Sonic X: Combine Wars
by Kojiokida2
Summary: The last in my series. Earth is under attack from an alien organisation called the Confederation. Treachy will propell Sonic into an adventure that spans the galaxy and forces him to come face to face with a Titan God. FINISHED!
1. Episode 1, part 1

Well… it's been a great two years writing this series but I have to put an end to it somewhere. This is the final chapter of this series but don't worry, I plan on going out with a bang. After which I'm taking a small break from writing.

I'd like to thank everyone who stuck with the series since I started with the Heroes adaptation way back when and all those who gave me really positive reviews. You made getting up on a Monday worth it.

So… It is my great pride and honour to introduce to you the final chapter of 'my' Sonic X.

Welcome to Combine Wars:

* * *

Hey.

This is Major Koji Naoko Okida here. Long name I know, so just Okida will do.

I'd like to recap on everything that's lead up to this, but I don't have the time; so I'll just have to go through the important stuff. That is if I can make sense of all this in stuff in my head, it gets confusing if I think about it for too long….

Well, about two years ago Earth was a battleground in an all or nothing fight between G.U.N, Doctor Eggman's Egg Fleet, the Metal X Machine Federation and the armada of the Black Arms; an alien sect Metal Sonic tricked into helping him in his crusade against the people on Earth. It was a free for all that left half the cities on the planet in ruin. I pity the poor guys who had to try and clear it up after the smoke cleared.

But the fighting was just a big distraction. All of us, Metal Sonic included, had been used as puppets by a being called Krish Kra Pal. The race for the Chaos Emeralds between us had been completely orchestrated by him. Once we had all seven, his two servants Dark Oak and Mishoal stole them from us and used their power to free Krish from a dimensional prison known as Nexus.

An unstoppable titan, Krish Kra Pal, also known as the Destroyer demolished everything in his path. Even Nazo and Queen Illumina of Maginaryworld fell at his feet. It was as if nothing hurt him.

We all went up against him and his battle station, the Armageddon and if we didn't win, he was going to use the original Eclipse Cannon attached to it to blow Earth to kingdom come. We came close to loosing that time, **_very close._**

If Tails and Cosmo hadn't sacrificed their place in this dimension to allow the energies of the Master Emerald, the Chaos Emeralds and the Precious Stone to merge; we'd all be up on clouds with halos and harps.

Sonic, Shadow and somehow, even Nazo teamed up and with that energy flowing though them dealt the KO blow that sent Krish packing.

Now, this is the part where I should say "the end." But I can't, no matter how badly I want to.

Turns out that when Krish was destroyed he sent out a physic ripple. This passed out through space, completely invisible to all creatures expect one. His Brother, the Dooms Eye.

Who it just happens is the Emperor of an intergalactic Confederated Empire. These were the guys the Black Arms spilt from and are twice as nasty. Now we've got an entire invasion fleet on its way here. We've had two years to get ready and now time's up.

We're as ready as we're ever going to be, but why can't I shake the feeling that beating Krish was just the Beginning?

* * *

-

**Planet Archon: Imperial Confederation territory:**

Garrison forces were thrown into complete disarray as dozens of explosions ran out across the width of the main and battlements. As the Confederate soldiers shot past one another to see what was going on, a single intruder made his way past the confusion and slipped in past the defences.

One of the soldiers cried out in his native language, raising the plasma sword in his hands as their visitor shot forward. Before he could swing his weapon the fesonian was dealt a savage blow to the head throwing him backwards crashing into the floor unconscious.

Reaching into the pocket of a long blue coat, the intruder withdrew several round objects and tossed them down through the ventilation shaft to his left. A moment later, an updraft of extremely hot air coursed skyward as they exploded, throwing more confusion across the Fesonian military.

With such utter chaos reigning, the intruder shot across the courtyard. In the semi darkness of twilight, his orange fur highlighted along with a pair of sea blue eyes. Reaching a large door that had locked down; he placed several more devices across the surface and pressed a button on the surface.

There was a small thud and suddenly the lock down door caved inward, revealing a long cargo tunnel leading into the cliff face. Standing before the entrance, his form silhouetted by one of Archon's several moons; Miles managed a short smile.

Advancing in he slowly made his way down the tunnel. It was long; so long he couldn't see the end of it. A long series of lights lit the tunnel ceiling, giving the illusion of everything being a fair shade of orange.

"Here again Miles?" A voice sighed through the air. The fox drew a cutlass blade from a scabbard at his side instinctively, whirling around to face whoever it was but found that his surroundings were empty. "Have you not yet realized both she and I are far beyond your meager reach? Your efforts and endeavors against me are pointless." The fox ignored the voice although a deepening frown cascaded over his face as he slowly slid his rapier back into its scabbard. "How many more times must I teach you that lesson?"

"As many times as I need to get her back." The fox replied, breaking into a run. His coattails flapping out behind him, his shadows passing by him swiftly as he ran underneath the rows of lights. The voice around him chuckled lightly. "I don't care if you find my attempts funny, I'm going to save her if it's the last thing I do."

"I would choose my words carefully if I were you Miles." With that last ominous threat, the voice faded away. Almost immediately a loud roar echoed out from behind him. Looking back Miles kept running as a huge lumbering form came charging out of the darkness of the tunnel's beginning. It looked like a dog, but with scales rather than fur. A pair of huge flaxen yellow eyes stared out above a mouth full of untrimmed teeth. Bounding like an animal it charged; its front legs a sheer wall of muscles while it's back legs underdeveloped in comparison. Keeping it in balance was a long muscular tail.

A mutated Fesonian; one of their attack classes. There was no chance of winning in a direct clash with one of those. Tearing a succession of round metallic objects the size of a baseball out of his pocket; Miles hurled them at the ground behind him and kept running. Upon striking the ground each metal objects broke open and sprayed a neon green liquid all around the mutant pounded on after him but failed notice the green puddle until it set foot upon it. When it did, its front paws became stuck fast as if it was wading in glue.

That would not hold of a creature that strong for long. Miles kept running, not looking back. The end of the tunnel was in sight. He was almost there! He was so close this time. So close!

Bursting out of the tunnels exit, he skidded to halt finding himself at the bottom of a giant canyon. The walls arched around so wide he could not see the end of it, but the canyon was not what drew his attention. At the bottom of this colossal crater was a small lake, a large jungle surrounding it all the way up to the canyon walls. The Fesonian compound buildings carried on all around, their organic like technology running like blood vessels everywhere.

Attached to the shore of the lake as the start of a colossal chain. Each metal link had to be the size of a coach and together the chains full length was well over a mile long. The chain stretched up into the sky and attached to the far end of it was a planet.

By no means as big as the one he was standing on but large enough to cast a never ending shadow over the ground. It was colossal, the canyon barely fitting its size. From here he could see the clouds spinning around its round form. It appeared to be like Earth, only miniaturized.

"You're not going to stop me this time!" He snarled from between clenched teeth and drew his sword. Taking off he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, darting from the road and into the trees. Behind him he could hear the mutant coming out of the tunnel. It had torn free from his trap and now it had his scent, it refused to let up the hunt.

"Halt!" Someone called out in the native Fesonian tongue as a squad of Confederate troops burst out of the undergrowth, all armed with their own plasma swords and laser weapons. They numbered fifteen in all. Seven of them never knew what hit them. Two went down with cuts across their exposed throats, another three sent flying back into the trees at a result of well placed kicks. "Shoot him!" The air pulsated with laser fire from their rifles. Miles arched his sword around in an angle so perfect the metal reflected the blasts and two more were riddled with holes from their own weapons.

Using the body of one as a shield he carried on, bursting through the tress running for the lake. As for the remaining eight, they quickly realized it was not wise to get in the way of mutant and its hunt. Miles did not look back at the flying gore. He kept going, breaking through the tree cover and onto the beech. The colossal chain was anchored down to the ground by an anchor like structure that had giant metallic claws latched onto the ground.

Scaling the building was no problem but the chain itself proved much more difficult. Each link was completely smooth and without anything to get footing on, the fox kept slipping down it. Yet utter determination and sheer willpower sped him on. Clearing each link he kept going, climbing on and on higher and higher towards the planet above. The wind around threatened to tear him and send plummeting to his death but to him now, on the mere threshold on success, it was nothing. A loud snarling caught his attention and glancing back he watched the mutant climb after him. Its scaly lips were still fresh with blood, the torn ligaments of a limb caught between its teeth. It was climbing fast, sinking its claws into the metal to gain a footing.

Ignoring it, Miles carried on climbing. Nothing would stop him now. The creature however was gaining on him.

"Tails." A soft voice called out to him and in that instant he could see her. Her compassionate sea blue eyes upon him, her green hair like a leaf on either side of her face. "Please go, you can not get to me in time."

"No." He replied forcing himself on. "I am not leaving without you. Not again!" Nothing would turn him away at this point.

"Please listen to me." She called to him and he could literally feel the tars welling up in both her eyes and his own. "I am not important. I have seen his intentions. I am the least of your concerns."

"I made you a promise." He reminded her. The mutant was only a single metal link away from him now, relishing with the prospect of a meal. "I said I was going to keep you safe and that's what I'm going to do." An instant later, the image disappeared; snapped away as if some communications line had been cut off and now all he could sense towering over him were a pair of glowing orange eyes.

"You deluded fool." A third eye opened above the first two, a silted pupil; staring down at him. "I am a Titan, heralded by peoples across creation as a force that made the gods themselves quake in fear. Each and every time you gain the audacity to challenge me, you go away empty handed."

"I will make you pay for this I swear." The fox yelled trying to run forward, only to find his ankle caught on something. Looking back he saw his foot caught in the iron grip of the mutant, its huge fist closed around his leg refusing to let go.

Blurring out from his coat, Miles let his two tails whirl around each other; spinning faster and faster like a fan. Taking like a chopper to the air the fox tried to pull himself free of the monsters grip but like a vice its fist refused to budge and it was far too heavy to lift.

The three eyes seemed to break into a laugh that rippled through the young fox's body like a thunderbolt. Suddenly a beam of light crashed down from the planet above and struck the chain just before him, energy sparking as cracks began coursing through the metal.

"Again…" The voice told him as he stared at those three eyes head on. "Again you fail."

"COSMO!" Miles Prower yelled at the top of his lungs as the chain broke under the force of the blast and the side he was one began falling. Letting go of the fox in the surprise the mutant went tumbling back first into the abyss. The chain crashed down into the lake below, the water sent flying up into the air in a giant spray. The crash shook the ground for miles, birds flying out of the canopy of the jungle squawking in surprise. A small tidal wave cascaded over the shore of the lake and smashed into the trees, breaking the first rows of them apart like matchsticks.

Then everything went quiet. The chain laid there half in and half out of the water, a lifeless snake of metal. Several of them had fallen inland, crushing some of the Fesonian garrison buildings and leaving giant impressions in the ground and jungle trees.

As the gently washing of the waves returned to normal, Miles found the water carrying him gently to the shore. He hadn't the strength either physically or emotionally to do it himself. Lying on his back in the shallows he watched the Miracle Planet above as without a tether to bind it here it faded away once more; vanishing as if it had never been there, disappearing to whichever dimension its instability determined. Now all that greeted his sight when he looked up was the sky itself.

"Damn you…" He hissed, spitting out a good deal of water in the process. "Damn you Black Doom."

Seven times now his attempts to follow the Miracle Planet and attempt a rescue had all met with failure. Again and again, Black Doom struck him down, leaving him alive as apart of a psychological torture. A message that was as clear as day; **_you are not worth my time._**

He felt his back hit the hard ground of the shore itself and he hoisted himself up into a sitting position. He would give anything to role back the clock two years. More than anything he wanted to call himself Tails again, but until he succeeded in his mission he could not. Now it seemed that name was gone forever. He was Miles Prower now and forever.

No. A voice in the back of his mind told him. Black Doom only wins if you give up. He reached into his soaked jacket and removed from a sealed pocket within a picture. Upon it were the people he used to know. There was a red Echidna with spiked fists, a pink hedgehog with a hammer at her side, a boy and his grandfather both expert technicians and a young rabbit girl with her Chao and robotic guardian. Last but not least, at the centre of it all was the blue hedgehog with emerald eyes with a name almost universally known. "I'm going to get you back Cosmo." Miles sighed. Suddenly an unexpected smile crossed his face. "But I think I'm going to need some help to do it."

* * *

S.O.N.I.C; GO!

S.O.N.I.C;GO!

Breaking the rules up until yesterday,

today being just generally loose,

With a punk philosophy,

saying to no longer run

towards the best goal,

that there is no meaning elsewhere.

With my biorhythm doubled,

the scenery is just countless lines

as the wind surrounds me.

I don't want to be

attacking Inside, Outside,

surpassing absolutely everything,

leaving nobody and nothing ahead.

Inside Outside GO! SONIC!

Absolutely Everything Yes! SONIC!

"Look Out!" and "Have a Nice"

the difference is paper thin.

Throw away the boredom, and just start running.

S,O,N,I,C GO!

S,O,N,I,C GO!

GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!

Confederate Front Saga

Episode 1: The Betrayal of the Earth

---

Location: Angel Island

Time Until Confederate Assault: 30 hours, 7 minutes

Knuckles had been wrestling with this dilemma for some time now. The decision he was about to make was not to be made lightly. It required a lot of forethought and now the time for thinking was up. Two years had drifted by since Krish was destroyed and one half of his being trapped within the Master Emerald. Standing before the giant jewel now, the object he had spent his entire life keeping safe, he was forced to decide his course of action.

"Well this is it." He remarked as if talking to the Emerald. Its glow dulled in response. The cold, high altitude air that Angel Island floated through stung at his skin. Winter had come and gone, thick patches of melting snow scattered across the shrine in clumps. "The two years are up. The confederates will be arriving any day now." Warned by Sonic about the impended threat, Knuckles had had plenty of time to think on what he should do. He sighed and looked deep into the shaped dimensions within the jewel, yet found nothing to help him reach his ultimate decision.

"I know I usually stay out of stuff like this…" He remarked hoping the Emerald would afford him something, a vision maybe. At this point he was willing to take anything as a sign. "But if they conquer Earth, I can kiss the Master Emerald goodbye." That much was true. Their technology was run completely by Chaos Energy. There was no way they were going to let the Master Emerald go by unnoticed. It would be like the power source equivalent of the Hope Diamond to them. They would steal it and let Angel Island crash into the ground. It would matter little to them what happened to the island.

A brief shimmer of light passed down the side of the giant emerald, sparking like a lens flare before vanishing to a single point. Knuckles stared after it in silence before he let himself fall back and using his gliding skill to slow his fall, he dropped gently to his back. Putting his hands behind his head, he simply stared up at what clouds travelled high enough to pass over Angel Island.

"I guess I don't have a choice." He stated out load. Once again he found himself hurled into the melee of another chaotic battle, a war by rights he was not a part of. All he had ever wanted was to continue his peaceful life here. Fate it seems had different ideas. Time and time again he had been forced to abandon the Master Emerald to help fight for the greater good, often by Sonic's side. There was something disturbing about that.

He sat up and stared past the emerald to the endless sea of clouds that Angel Island seemed to float on top of. A pristine surface of white and grey swirls that ever seemed to end, carrying on to the horizon. "Here we go again."

* * *

--

Location: Blue Typhoon

Time Until Confederate Assault: 27 hours, 56 minutes

"With the two year waiting period now expired, the militaries planet wide defences appear to be nearing completion." The report announced, the emblem of the new G.U.N Federation fading away on his left fading away to be replaced by scenes of mobilizing troops, Mech's and tanks. As the pictures came and went they showed extensive military presences in towns and cities around the world. Mech's on the streets on New York. Laser hunters patrolling Moscow in packs. Half of the Canadian countryside was now filled with dozens of Ground to Orbit Guns, all aimed skyward in readiness.

Amy sighed as she watched. When she'd tuned in she'd been attempting to try and take her mind off the battles now so close at hand. This was the last thing she needed to see right now. "And now the unnerving waiting period begins." The reporter began again. "Our network will attempt to bring you up to date tactical information…" The pink hedgehog lifted the remote and switched the TV off. Groaning she heaved herself off the sofa and sat up properly. She was no longer the teenager Sonic had had following him around with stars in her eyes. Over the two years of preparation for the Confederates invasion she had grown into a young woman of twenty and it showed in her appearance. She had dropped the red headband for a pair of headphones. Her red dress had stopped fitting a year ago. In its stead was a loose blue t shirt that hung about her, falling below her waist and her jeans.

"I could really use a vacation from all this hero stuff." She sighed into the air. Saving the world was a round the clock occupation with a terrible salary and health hazards. She, Sonic and all the others had gotten themselves this job through no fault of their own and now they needed branded with it for life. She had sent her entire life since she little more than twelve enduring one adventure after another.

"Couldn't we all?" A voice replied. Looking up, she saw Okida standing in the doorway to the recreational area of the Blue Typhoon. The ship was hovering over the American countryside just outside Utah having been allowed back into the country after the coup conducted by the G.U.N commander to get rid of the Hexagon company.

Okida had taken a fashion change in the last two years. His gloves were larger and had cuffs going back over the wrists. His head fur had been styled spiky and forward over the forehead and his usual brown boots had been replaced by white sneakers similar in design to those sonic wore only with two blue squares near the ankles. The big change came from a canvas brown coat he wore around him. It had long sleeves so his arms were now covered and a tail end hung just past his knees. His belt had been tied over it, keeping it from flapping about and getting in the way of his wings. "Hey, you haven't seen Sonic anywhere have you?"

"He went out for a run." Amy replied, stretching herself out before she stood up. "Left the ship about half an hour ago." Okida rolled his eyes and asked the ceiling…

"Why can't that hedgehog stay in one place?"

"So what's up, why do you need him?" The pink hedgehog asked coming up along side the bat with her large war hammer at her side.

"We're planning out a strategy." Okida replied as they walked together down the corridor outside the door. "And it would be nice if our biggest hitter would know what it was."

On the bridge, Chuck and Chuck were the only ones there. Everyone else had occupied themselves with something or other. Chris was sitting in one of the chairs by the consoles with his grandfather standing by. With his sixteenth birthday last month Chris had grown from the timid twelve year old boy Sonic had once befriended into a teenager on the verge of adulthood. He had for the most part escaped the ravages of acne and let his hair grow longer. Now it hung around his shoulders stead of a short crop at the back.

"Well Eggman, what's the low down?" Chris asked at the screen before him with Chuck leaning over his shoulder. His grandfather had weathered the years well. Even with his sixties coming to an end.

"Are they coming?" The old man asked; sounding agitated as he leaned in closer. The sneering, thick moustached face on the screen leered at them. A pair of thick spectacles hid the squinting eyes.

"Don't rush a Genius." Was all he said, his voice and picture garbled by the poor transmission. The Egg Moon was quite a distance from the Blue Typhoon's present position and without rerouting the signal through a satellite the condition of receiving image was poor. "My equipment is the best in the world. Unequalled by anything the military can manage." The doctor stated proudly as he stepped aside to reveal his two hence bots, Becoe and Decoe running around dragging wires and cables everywhere, sometimes tripping up over each others efforts. The Doctor's Elite robots stood to attention behind him.

On the far left was Metal Knuckles, recently repaired from extensive damage inflicted by Metal Sonic. Next to him was Egg Robo, a sniper class robot armed with a large laser rifle at his side. Next along was the last remaining robot of the E1000 series, E1004: Theta. Last but not least was the rebuilt Gamma. All four of them stood rigidly there all in a neat line. "When their little fleet gets within sensor range," Eggman continued. "You'll be the first to know about it."

The door at the back of the bridge slid open and Okida and Amy walked inside.

"And news yet?" The Major asked, brushing a few strands of head fur out of his face as he and the pink hedgehog walked up.

"We're online with the EggMoon." Chuck replied, his hands in his lab coat pockets as he glanced back at them. "We should be getting a confirmation soon enough."

"I just can't believe we're trusting Eggman again." Amy said with a furrowed brow as she balanced her hammer on one shoulder.

"Yeah; especially after what happened the last time." Chris added in with a smile. Eggman himself did not look overly impressed; he sat down in his seat and folded his arms in front of himself, his eyes narrowing so much the skin folded over the top of his glasses.

"Again I ask…" He began fixing them all with a stare. "Do you really have any choice?" The four of them exchanged nervous glances. They knew he was right. "I'm the only one apart from the Black Arms with a deep space going fleet or an early warning system." The doctor unfolded his arms and jabbing his thumb into his chest. "You need me." The reminder was so bitter they could have gagged on it. It was a foolish thing to do to trust Eggman, but he was right, they needed his help. All of them had to pull together to repel the Confederates invasion and Eggman's forces were almost crucial to their defence plans.

"Doctor, numerous large moving objects have entered the Egg Moon's sensor range." Decoe called over, his bronze form hunched over the radar screen gaining everyone's attention. Even the four elite robots turned their heads to look.

"Affirmative, now tracking." Becoe added in, his metallic hands running over the keyboard in front of him.

"Look's like this is it." Chuck announced and instantly everyone's mouth went dry. Silence gripped both sides of the transmission and Chris kept his gaze locked on the screen, his heart beating hard in his chest. Okida and Amy were peering over his shoulder trying to see what was happening. The tension in the air could have been cut with a knife. This was the moment they had all been mentally preparing themselves for two years for.

"Sizzling circuit boards!" Becoe proclaimed so suddenly he nearly making everyone fall over. "There are thousands of them!" On the radar screen in front of him, as the green line passed by uncountable numbers of green dots lit up along with it. As it circled more and more appeared on the screen. So this was the Confederates' sixth attack fleet? Impressive size that was for certain, but Eggman had yet to see them in action to make any intelligent judgement about offensive capabilities. Quantity was no guarantee of quality.

His frown changed unseen into a smirk.

"Well." He began turning back to the screen. "It looks like we've got another big battle on our hands. I doubt either G.U.N's fleet or my own is going to be able to stop them from landing."

"Thank you for those comforting words." Chris remarked, leaning back in his seat and looking up at the ceiling with an exasperated look on his facer.

"I'm just telling you like it is." The Doctor stated defensively. "I don't believe in sugar-coating news, especially the nightmarish, end-of-the-world kind." The ends of his moustache drooped. "If we don't get our act together, we can say goodbye to the Earth."

"We know the whole save the world drill Eggman." Amy reminded him with a grin, her weight balanced on the end of her hammer. "You kept us on our toes for some time." The Doctor's smirk widened.

"And for some time to come I hope." His hand pressed something out of sight and instantly the transmission was cut off, replaced by a blank screen.

"Eggman isn't the ally I imaged us having right now." Chuck admitted, folding his arms in front of himself.

"Me neither." Okida agreed.

"Well like he said." Chris remarked looking back at them over his right shoulder. "We need him."

"Speaking of Allies," Amy started giving the Major a look. "Who else can we count on when the fighting starts?" Okida blinked as if surprised by the statement. He rolled his eyes and put a forefinger and thumb to his chin in thought.

"Well let's see…" He began. "The militaries on the march, although I don't really think I could call them allies." That went without saying. There were Mechs, tanks and infantry in practically every town in preparation for the invasion. The G.U.N fleet would have taken up a defensive pattern outside the atmosphere by now. "Vector said we could count on Chaotix for help." The major added remembering that little nugget of information when he clicked his fingers. He paused for a moment. "Can't say much for their organisational skills."

Chaotix weren't exactly as trained or experienced as others they could call on for help, but they were all professional veterans who knew what they were doing in a fight.

"Omega's behind us too." Chris reminded them. "He'll be the biggest hitter in terms of firepower." The E100 unit could unleash more firepower than some of the Mech's in G.U.N's arsenal. Thanks to the various upgrades both Chuck and the military technicians had given him, Omega was now debatably the most advanced fighting machine on Earth.

"And he's not the only robot we have on our side." Amy added in. Of course, there was also Emerl. Cream's guardian robot was a force to be reckoned with. The gizoid did not fight with missiles or laser rifles. For Emerl, it was pure hand to hand combat. He could literally rip entire tanks apart with his bare hands. Unfortunately Emerl wasn't a reliable ally. His only concern was to protect Cream and her Mother. That was the central core of his program, written into his hard-drive and impossible to remove. As such he could abandon any fight to defend the rabbit girl if she was in any danger.

"Don't forget the rest already on the Typhoon." Chris told them. He was referred to those who hadn't gone off for some last minute R&R before the fighting got underway.

"Oh right, those guys." The major began with a sigh.

In terms of raw physical strength, the strongest was Bark the Polar Bear. His strength was on par with that of Knuckles and martial arts skill to boot, that made him a valuable asset.

Hare was a balanced fighter, quick, agile and strong but lacking the flash of specialised skill. He was an atheist, ill-mannered, grumpy and quite often outright rude. More than that he was often drunk, but apart from that he was reliable guy.

Their explosives expert was Bean the Duck, or "Dynamite Duck", as he preferred to be called. Possibly clinically psychotic, Bean enjoyed blowing things up with bombs, plastic explosives and various other things that went boom after you lit a fuse. His skills had come in handy on numerous occasions but quite often he behaved as hyper as a six year old stuffed with caffeine.

The humans onboard apart from Chris and Chuck had their uses as well. Chris' uncle, Sam Speed had once been leader of S-team but had given the position up to become a member of the crew. While primarily a racer, Sam's real skill lay with its engineering talents. He was a talented mechanic and knew the inside and out of every Mech they had done in the hold.

Topaz, oh what would he do without Topaz? Okida asked himself silently. She was nearly a good as Mech pilot as he was now, a brilliant tactical planner and an expert of battle strategy. In fact, she was in charge of planning the …. 'deployment' of their own resources when the fighting started. More than that though, for Okida had his own reasons for near idolizing her. A faint blush tinged his cheeks and he coughed to regain his composure.

"Of course you haven't even mentioned the hardest hitters yet." Chuck announced; reminding them all that the three to without a doubt cause the most damage they hadn't even gone through on their lists yet.

Without even saying it the first was Sonic himself. There wasn't a person on Earth who didn't know who he was, who hadn't heard of his adventures. He was a praised hero all over the world. Sometimes that fandom had him running away from crowds of screaming fan girls. A skilled fighter, Sonic's skill was with attacks of such unbelievable speed it left his opponents dazzled.

Shadow was another one. Like Sonic he was fast and skilled in various forms of high speed combat. More than that, he could control energy as if it were part of his body, calling forth devastating attacks like Chaos Spear or Chaos Blast. Also he had near mastery over Chaos Control, affording him teleportation and even slowing down time so allow him extra opportunities in battle.

The third and final one was one they were not entirely sure about. Metal Sonic was a formidable fighter, a match for both Sonic and Shadow; sometimes combined. Yet because of his intentions he could never really be trusted. He allied with neither Eggman nor them, his ultimate agenda to rebuild the Metal X Machine Federation; a task he had apparently put on hold until the Confederate threat was dealt with.

"I guess we're as ready as we're ever going to be." Okida sighed looking up. Chuck nodded in agreement, but still with a frown on his lips.

"Only time will tell if that's enough." All eyes were suddenly on the screen in front of Chris. It was still showing Eggman's radar display and the hundreds of green dots that represented the amassed alien fleet.

* * *

----

Location: Caribbean Islands

Time Until Confederate Assault: 25 hours, 10 minutes

When Sonic told Amy he had gone out for a run, he hadn't been entirely truthful. True he did run, but not for enjoyment purposes. He was far too hyped for it. They were less than a day away from all out war, a destructive melee to decide the fate of the world and by now he was so wired in anticipation even industrial strength sleeping pills wouldn't be able to put him down.

So instead, Sonic was running all over the globe making sure that everything was ready. G.U.N was in place and whenever he asked about preparations he was told by soldiers armed with large guns to get lost. So for now he just assumed they were ready and raced on.

Rouge the bat was with him, flying the X-Tornado. There was no way she could keep up with him by herself. The plane helped her with a boast of speed and besides they needed the room for those they were bringing back with them. Arriving in the Caribbean, Sonic put on the breaks to make one last stop. Chaotix had promised their alliances and how he was near to pick them up.

Sonic had undergone little in the way of style changes over the years. But recently had had taken to wearing a pair of green tinted glass over his eyes while he was running and passing them up to his forehead at leisure. This wasn't something he did because it was practical. He did it because it was the style Tails had taken to some time before. The style was a token to remind the blue hedgehog that his oldest friend was still out there somewhere and would be back some day. That drove him on through this campaign, a steadfast determination to keep Earth safe so that Tails could return home to it.

Espio was there waiting for them when the X-Tornado landed on the dock of the harbour, Sonic skidding to a halt just beside it leaving a trail of fire after him.

"So here's our ride then?" The chameleon asked.

"Yeah, you all ready to go?" The blue hedgehog asked as Rouge pushed the cockpit cover open.

Espio gestured behind him to those gathered on the docks. All of Chaotix, Vector, Charmy, Beck and Rei were there. Not only that but Vanilla Rabbit and Cream were there too, their robotic guardian Emerl standing rigid beside them. Cream had grown up quite a bit since they last meet. Now both she and Charmy were twelve and their overall size almost seem to have doubled.

"So are we gonna save the world again?" The young bee asked, buzzing up alongside Sonic.

"It's turning into something we do for a hobby." The blue hedgehog replied with a flat expression.

"Sonic…" Vanilla began calling over. "Can I ask a favour of you?" Sonic zipped up beside her.

"Sure what is it?"

"I want you to take Cream with you when you go into space to fight those aliens." A stunned silence passed over the blue hedgehog.

"Say what?" He asked with a stunned expression. Vanilla smiled.

"I know it sounds monstrously irresponsible of me to ask you, but I'm not sure her staying with me will keep her safe. The entire world is going to be a battleground in less than a day." She looked him right in the eye. "She's been on your adventures before and you've always kept her safe. I trust you, so…"Her smile widened a little. "I want you to keep my daughter safe for me." Cream glanced back from between her mother to Sonic, unable to read the expression on either of their faces.

"But what about you momma?" She asked. Vanilla looked down at her daughter and gently patted her head.

"I'll be fine dear. I think those aliens are going to have bigger things to worry about than chasing me with Sonic around." Sonic just grinned in response.

"Ok then. I'll keep her safe." He told her.

"Thank you Sonic."

"Ah…. touching isn't it Vector?" Rei asked with a grin.

Vector was standing very still with his back to all of them. His gaze was locked on the sky, refusing to leave it. Now that Sonic thought about it, the crocodile hadn't said a word since the hedgehog got there and he was usually talkative.

"Er…Vector?" Charmee began, hovering around the crocodile's side. In his hands, the reptilian was holding a small box which he was rolling about between his fingers in indecision. Slowly he turned to look down at it, then back up at the sky. He and Vanilla had been dating for some time now and they were on the verge of lovers. He had been meaning to present her with this for over a month but the time never seemed right. Now he was into his last few seconds, putting it off now was not an option.

"Vector… what's wrong?" Vanilla asked and he shuddered a little.

"Ah to hell with it." He exclaimed suddenly turning around so sharply his tail nearly hit Espio in the face. Without a word he walked right up to Vanilla, his large eyes locked on hers. Then he dropped down onto one knee, receiving a gasp from those gathered around them. Producing the box he opened the lid to reveal a golden ring inside.

Vanilla stood there with a stunned expression on her face. "Vanilla…" He began, gesturing the jewellery up to her. "Will you marry me?" Espio's jaw dropped almost comically. Beck was left standing there with wide eyes. A moment later a small thud echoed out. Looking around, Espio saw that Cream had fainted beside him. Then there was another thud as Charmy fell down beside her.

"Well this is new." Sonic added in quietly with wide eyes, his arms folded in front of himself.

"Vector I…" Vanilla began with her voice unsteady.

"I know this isn't the best time but….Vanilla I love you." The crocodile added in quickly. He paused. "Boy that was easier to say than I thought it would be." Silence gripped them, refusing to let up. Vanilla's expression slowly turned unreadable, her eyes staring at Vector's as if trying to seek out his honesty in this proposal. Slowly a smile spread across her face and tears began welling up in her eyes.

"You've always been there for me and Cream Vector and… and I love you too." She told him, kneeling down and placing a hand against the side of his cheek. Vector's expression was unreadable. Their eyes locked and the emotion in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. "But it's too soon after Cream's father left me. I hope you understand." Vector didn't say anything. Instead he simply closed the box, the smile on his scaly lips simply refusing to go.

"I'll just hang onto this then."

As some hidden passion gripped them both, Vanilla and Vector almost literally seized each other. Kissing was almost an impossibility for the crocodile as his snout was hardly compatible with her lips. So instead their hug had to make up for it, an embraced so heart felt it felt like two souls had joined together.

"I don't want to sound like scourge here…" Sonic spoke up tapping his foot. "But we do have an alien fleet about to crash down on us now." Espio held his arm out to silence him.

"Leave them be." The chameleon stated with a reluctant sigh, turning to advance towards the X-Tornado.

"Yeah, we can manage five minutes can't we?" Beck asked walking past.

"Besides we've been waiting for him to get that out in the open for a while now." Rei finally added, walking past with the stunned to unconscious state Charmy in his arms.

"What does this look like; a soap opera?" Sonic asked raising an eyebrow after them questioningly.

"Oh quite being such a spoil sport." Rouge called down to him, sliding out the cockpit and stretching her wings. Espio took her place at the controls. "I can tell you're not a romantic soul." She paused. "Or was that what Amy told me?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" The blue hedgehog asked defensively. She smiled coyly at him.

"Just that **_she's_** waiting for you. And she's been waiting a long time already." Sonic managed to hide the blush underneath his blue fur.

"You're a fine one to talk. What about Knuckles?" Her smiled refused to leave her face. She simply waved him off with feminine grace.

"I'll have him in the palm of my hand before too long." She announced walking away. Sonic forged a deep frown.

* * *

-

Location: G.U.N Central Command

Time Until Confederate Assault: 12 hours, 37 minutes

Across the entire Canadian northern front, an entire forest of ground to orbit guns had been installed. Similar constructions were almost complete in northern Russia, the Far East and several in Scotland. These however were only for use in the worst case scenario, which was if the Confederate's broke through their fleet's defensive line. Despite their preparations, Federation intelligence did not know entirely what to expect once the alien fleet entered their space. They had already been informed by their temporary Eggman Empire allies that the Confederate fleet was nearing their orbital path and accelerating. They would be within firing range of Earth in little over twelve hours.

In preparation for a possible ground based invasion, troop deployment in major cities all around the world had been dramatically increased. The economy had been brought to the verge of collapse by the militaries demands for increased funds over the last two years. Almost three quarters of the state's entire budget had been funnelled into the Mech program. That isn't to say G.U.N didn't spend the money unwisely. Every strategic position leading to and fro from state capitals in every major country across the globe had been heavily fortified. The military was heavily entrenched on the surface. If the Confederates landed they were going to have one hell of a hard time trying to engage the G.U.N troops.

Even so Jericho, G.U.N commander and temporary President of the United States could not help but worry. He was fighting an enemy of which he knew nothing about. All intelligence they had came from the Black Arms, who had taken up defence of the terraformed Mars and even then it wasn't up to date. Running from the Confederate Empire for so long, the Black Arms had avoided all confrontations with their army. Their own knowledge of their military capabilities was prepares centuries insufficient. It was like expecting to fight men with swords and shields only to find a row of tanks rolling down at you.

"Doctor Eggman's Egg Fleet is assembling around the Egg-Moon." Someone was telling him, a display appearing in the main screen of the war room. Officials, officers and others were rushing around in a melee. Tripping over each over at regular intervals with papers, documents and cups of coffee flying into the air. "If all goes as planned the Shark Battle ships with rendezvous with our fleet by 2200 hours." Thus far, the ships belonging to the Black Arms had not deployed themselves from Mars. The alien sect appeared to be focusing their attentions on planet defence instead of fleet deployment.

Jericho hadn't been listening to the reports coming in. His thoughts dwelled elsewhere. Even if they won the coming battle, the United States was finished economically. There was no way it could last the year required to stave off the invaders long enough for some other Federation to intervene.

The last thing the world needed was to be run by a military-industrial complex like the Guardian-Units-for-Nations. As soon as the crisis was over, Jericho had every intention of stepping down the current state of emergency and removing troops from civilian population centres. He was not going to force G.U.N down the path of either the Elite or the Hexagon Company. He would not make his coup pointless like that.

"Commander Jericho?" His eyes snapped up when he realised someone had been talking to him. Looking up he saw a decorated captain standing waiting for his response. "We have a direct communications link with the Fleet sir." Jericho blinked and quickly gathered himself.

"Put it through." The main screen in front of the war room buzzed with static for a moment before the image of a man in a military uniform appeared. It was the General presently in charge of the Giant Wing Fortress. The massive carrier, mobile fortress and tactical operations centre served as the

"Commander, this is Giant Wing. Our own radar has just picked up the alien fleet passing by Mars' orbital path. They appear to be holding station now." The general's image flickered for a moment to be replaced by the image of a radar sweep. Jericho stared at the hundreds of green dots that almost seemed to blank the screen. They had indeed stopped their advance towards Earth, slowing to a near stop just past Mars, as if they appeared to be in in-decision. "Wait… wait sir, they're doing something now." Suddenly the giant swarm of green dots seemed to divide, a quarter of their number collecting into a separate small group, before finally flying off towards Mars itself. Jericho forged a frown.

They must have detected the presence of the Black Arms and sent off some of their forces to engage them there. Once the division had been made, the rest of the forces carried on towards the Earth.

"What's their ETA?" Jericho asked.

"At present speed they'll be within visual range of our fleet in little over12 hours sir." The general replied. Jericho paused for a moment to collect himself; taking slow calm breaths. So this was it. This was what they'd been preparing themselves for two years for.

Jericho suddenly became aware that everyone in the war room had stopped to look at him. Every officer, strategist and anyone with a clearance badge attached to the front of their shirt was simply staring at him, waiting for his response. Even the general on the screen was waiting for him to say something.

Slowly he stood up, his face a wall of emotionless granite.

"Battle Stations!"


	2. Episode 1, part 2

Location: Planet Earth, meteorite ring orbit:

Time Until Confederate Assault: 7 hours, 6 minutes

* * *

-

The amassed force of the G.U.N fleet was an impressive sight to behold. For two years they had frantically reinforced their numbers and as the fleet formed the defensive line in the above the atmosphere of the planet it seemed to stretch almost completely around the axis of the Earth. There were over five hundred battle ships and countless small fighters ready to go, their flag ship, the fortress Giant Wing waiting behind the front lines; serving as a command post.

At 10pm eastern standard time, the Egg Fleet, the manufactured forced of Doctor Eggman joined up with the military. Shark battle ships swarmed through G.U.N's fleet unchallenged and took up various escort positions through the front line. Once the joining of the two fleets was accomplished their numbers had swelled to well over eight hundred. The Egg Carrier 4 was last to arrive, it's massive bulk sliding through the fleet until it slowed to a stop next to Giant Wing.

But that wasn't the last ship to arrive through.

Sliding up through the Earth's atmosphere came the most famous vessel on the planet, an impressive long ship gleaming white in the light from the sun. The G.U.N troops onboard each ship cheered loudly as the Blue Typhoon floated past. Acting in cooperation with the military, much to Sonic's reluctance, the freelance ship had agreed to be part of G.U.N's overall defensive strategy

"One last tweak and… there we go." Chris announced, wiping some of the oil off his face before tightening down the last of the bolts. Omega's large flaxen yellow coloured metallic head rotated around to stare at the new attachment placed upon his back. The thrusters previous installed onto his body allowed him to make short hopes over obstacles in his path. These new adaptations were to allow him some degree of manoeuvrability in the weightless environment of space.

They were long like wings, with two pincer like pieces of painted red metal out wither side. The thrusters were underneath and the metal slid together when they were not in use. Omega tried flexing them and each time he brought his thrusters engine online the wings opened up almost like feathers on a bird. "Those are linked to your internal battery." Chris warned him. "Prolonged use will overheat your systems, leaving you less manoeuvrable and unable to use your weapons systems."

Omega was not the only one being outfitted for a fight in Zero-G. Emerl had had the thrusters on the underside of his feet given a hardware upgrade. More jet black armour now coated his shins to protect the extra equipment.

"Well that's all well and good for them, but what about us?" Sonic asked putting his hands on his hips. "Robots don't need to breath but I think we both know what'll happen if I step outside that air-lock."

"I've already given that some thought Sonic." Chuck told the blue hedgehog with a smile. "I've been fooling around with this idea for some time, but I think I've finally sorted out all the bugs." Sonic and Amy shot each other a nervous glance as the old Thorndyke began rummaging through his collection of various mechanical nick-knacks. Smiling, he pulled out a metal crate what appeared to be a piece of canvas leather wrapped into a ring no bigger than the width of an arm.

"I'm almost afraid to ask…" Amy whispered.

"Installed underneath here…" Chuck began, flipping it over to show them the inside of the ring. There was a small mechanical device that redeemed a computer chip half embedded in the material. "…is a small force field generator. Once attached to a wearer, it will project an almost skin tight field around him or her."

"It's a nice idea, but won't that leave us trapped inside an airtight bubble with no air?" Amy asked. Chuck's grin widened manically.

"Oh no. I thought ahead. I managed to get a hold of some of Eggman's nano-bot technology for this and I added in a microscopic oxygen generator inside. It'll produce as much air as you'll need." His face suddenly adopted a stern expression. "Keep in mind while wearing it, if this gets knocked off in battle; the force-field will fail and you'll have your intestines turned inside out by the vacuum."

"Oh thank you so much for the image." Sonic commented dryly.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Amy asked him as Chuck handed her the device strap.

"Well the reflux capacitor bends particles backwards through the ventilations control systems and use of physical force upon the flimsy structure could cause a tremendous increase in the temperature control buffer along the…"

"In English."

"In plain English; it'll heat up really quickly so try not to get burned."

"Great, have fun with the death trap." Sonic remarked with a flick of his head, a managed a short grin. "As for me, I've something more reliable in mind." With that he disappeared out the door.

* * *

-

Time Until Confederate Assault: 2 hours, ten minutes.

While it was not the Emerald Shrine but the familiar shape made up for it. With the Master Emerald once again inside the Blue Typhoon's energy core, Knuckles stood at the bottom of the metallic replica of the shrine staring up towards the top. At the top, the very centre of the ship itself was the Master Emerald. Its glow bathing the entire chamber in a liniment green light.

"Well it's not Angel Island but it'll do for now." The echidna stated as he heard the two lock down door at the far end of the chamber open.

"It's a home away from home." Sonic replied walking up, flicking the green tinted glasses on his forehead down over his eyes; a thick smirk on his face. Knuckles managed one of his own in return. This time around they weren't having the problems with the Master Emerald they were before. Now Chuck had updated the Blue Typhoon with technology from both G.U.N and the Black Arms, the engines could absorb the energy from the emerald without blowing out cables and fuses. On the way to Mars the ship had been in need of near constant repair.

"We all ready to go then?" Knuckles asked as the hedgehog neared the steps of the metallic shrine.

"The crews more panicky than the stock exchange, we're nuts trusting Eggman and Chuck's invented a new device to get us all killed." Sonic replied, the shrugged. "Pretty much yeah." Knuckles remained silent, his arms folded in front of himself. His face set itself into a soft look of discontent. "Something wrong?" Sonic asked looking back over his shoulder.

"The company." Knuckles replied, turning his head to look at the shadowy shape sitting at the far right hand edge of the metal shrine. Metal Sonic sat there leisurely; legs out in front of himself and arms outstretched either side. His cape was folded across the steps and under himself, the end draped across his feet.

The robotic hedgehog sat there watching them with red, half eclipsed eye shining from beyond the metal visor. The expression and lifeless and vague and behind the eyes periodic pieces of complex data flew back and forth.

"Has he moved?" Sonic asked.

"Not an inch." The red echidna replied shaking his head. "He's absorbing all the ambient energy in the chamber." Sonic grinned and folded his arms behind his head.

"Never a better time for a re-charge."

"I don't like him using my Emerald that way." Knuckles pointed out.

"Hey you've got the energy to spare." Sonic replied. "Besides, it's not just the Master Emerald he's getting a jump start from." Knuckles managed a wide smile.

"I know. I sensed they were here. You busied yourself in the past two years I see." Sonic just smirked and threw his arms up towards the ceiling.

"The servers are the seven Chaos…" As soon as he started recanting that ancient verse, Knuckles felt his short fur stand up on end as the air was suddenly full of ambient floating energy. Metal Sonic's eyes turned on and off for a moment in a blinking motion and he stood up sharply.

Suddenly, from a secluded portion at the top of the room came seven bright points of light; all swirling down to encircle the hedgehog. The Seven Chaos Emeralds, glowing with all their usual power were now fully active; burning with power unleashed from the ether.

There was a sudden flush and Sonic's entire body was bathed in light. The glow spread out, down every corridor of the ship and out into the depths of space itself making the blue Typhoon a giant beacon within the fleet. Soldiers all around stopped from their duties to simply stare at it.

Then it faded and everything was normal again.

On the bridge, Chris managed a short smile.

Metal Sonic looked the hedgehog over in his energised form. His quills were now jagged up and sparking with blue bolts of lightning. His eyes had changed from emerald green to blood red and his fur was gold instead of royal blue.

"Ok then." Super Sonic began, flexing his neck muscles until he heard as snap. All Seven Chaos Emeralds flying around him like orbiting moons. "Who's up for some uncensored violence?"

* * *

-

Time Until Confederate Assault: Five Minutes

With Super Sonic hovering before the fleet, the final waiting game began. A single minute of utter silence, all eyes fixed forward on the dark skies in front of them, all waiting. Hearts could be heard thumping loudly in anticipation inside chests. Metal Sonic was the first one to sight it, his optic sensors observing movement the naked eye couldn't hope to.

"Here they come." The robotic hedgehog stated, keeping his arms crossed in front of himself and head fixed forward. Super Sonic shot him a quick glare, before keeping his eyes forward. Just where the heck was Shadow? The black hedgehog had had the two of them training for this for two whole years and now he was going to miss the party? Even Knuckles had turned up for this bash.

It was a shame, but ever since the fight with Krish they hadn't been able to merge into Nazo. It was if his energy had been used up during the fight and he no longer existed.

Which was just as well as Nazo had been required to defeat the Destroyer and once that task was accomplished he was no longer needed.

Then they came, emerging out of the darkness; a sheer wall of ships. Uncountable numbers of smaller fighters came first, no bigger than a coach in height but with a wing span of an entire city block. These numbers well into their hundreds but when their forces began reinforcing with gigantic battleships that Super Sonic began to get a little worried.

The Confederate fleet was an easy match for amassed collation one. Each ship was like that of the Black arms, angled back like a triangle across the front before widening out with a collection of thrusters at the back. On each ship, the horizontally lined windows were all glowing bright neon green.

Once they all reached a certain distance, they slowed until finally they formed a thick line that arched in a half sphere. Counting the ships quickly, Super Sonic actually found himself unimpressed. Sure there were a lot of ships, but the way the Black Arms went on he would have expected more from one of the Confederates' best invasion fleets. True they had spilt their numbers, but not that many had gone off to engage Mars. With some of the best fighters like Metal Sonic and himself here, that tipped the scales in Earth's favour. A smile passed by his lips. Perhaps this wasn't going to be as difficult as he first thought.

His smile faded when he realised a good few minutes had passed with nothing happening.

"What are they waiting for?" Super Sonic asked. Metal Sonic did not reply. He simply stood there on the bow of the Blue Typhoon watching the ships with unblinking half eclipse spherical eyes. Something didn't seem right about this. G.U.N wouldn't risk firing the first shots, they had too much to loose by being the provokers of this engagement.

Just what was going on?

Suddenly it all became clear. One after the other, more Confederate ships began simply appearing, popping up out of nowhere; collectively forming a thick row of vessels encircling the entire collation fleet. They were now completely surrounded.

"Holy crap!" Amy cursed, her head turning this way and that as more ships simply began appearing.

"Cloaking technology." Eggman stated, his voice carrying on down through the com device. "They were using their new light reflection drive to render themselves completely invisible, allowing them to gain this strategic advantage." Super Sonic could very well see that. No matter which direction he turned, there were simply move ships; more than he could possibly could. Suddenly, something the doctor said didn't seem to fit…

"Just how do you know what their technologies called?" He asked back. A short chuckling came in reply and Super Sonic's eyes began widening in horror.

"Simple, I'm the one who made it for them."

The gun turrets of every Egg Fleet ship rose up all at once, rotated around before firing a thick volley of laser and missile fire straight into the G.U.N ships. Explosions began rocking through space, fire and molten fragments of metal cascading everywhere. The fighters on the whale shark battleships began launching themselves, flying up like a swarm of locusts before descending on the G.U.N fleet, their defensives exposed to an attack from the rear. The Egg Carrier itself made a hasty withdraw from the action, laying down a thick cover fire to protect its retreat. Once it had cleared enough distance, it opened fire upon the military with a succession of missiles.

"Eggman!" Jericho snarled up at the image of the doctor on the main image screen. "Just what in the depths of hell do you think your doing?" Eggman's face set itself in an impossible to tolerate sneer.

"What does it look like old boy?" He asked, adjusting the glasses to stop them sliding down his nose. "You really think I'm stupid enough as to let a golden opportunity like this pass me by?" Realisation flooded like a tidal wave into the Commander's eyes.

"You traitorous bastard!" He cried. "You're in league with the Confederates!"

"From almost the moment I found out about them." Eggman replied. "They struck me a deal. I help them get past the defences of this world to use it as a command post and in return I get to rule it as a regent of the Confederate Empire. A bargain don't you think?" He rubbed his hands together with relish. "So I guess this is the point I demand your total and unconditional surrender."

"In your dreams." Jericho replied from between clenched teeth.

"Oh very well. Be it on your own head." Eggman replied, but with no regret in his voice. He leaned to the side and pressed a button off screen. "Attention Admiral Baal, you can begin your attack now." All most all at once, the Confederate ships opened fire; a thick volley of green laser fire shooting through space and cascading down through the G.U.N ships.

One of the Shark ships of the Egg Fleet prepared to fire a volley of laser fire at the Giant Wing fortress as it moved to take up flanking position on the fleets damaged left. Before it could fire it exploded in a spray of fire, Super Sonic charging through the carnage left.

Anger was fuelling his actions as he burnt anything with an Eggman Empire logo on it that got in his way. While most of his anger was directed at the Doctor's fleet around him, a portion of it was reserved for self loathing. How could he have been so stupid? He thought that just this once; with so much at stake, Eggman would work with them for the greater. But no, once again he proved that he was completely untrustworthy and unbelievably selfish. Well, this was the last Eggman was going to betray them.

"I think not Sonic." The doctor remarked, watching the progress of the golden hedgehog as it craved through his fleet. "You really think I'd go to all this trouble to set this trap up, and then leave you out of the equation? Oh hedgehog I thought you knew me better than that?"

"Deploying fleet for operation, 'Job-Loss' Doctor." Becoe called up, his metal fingers running over the keyboard in front of him. Slowly the shark battleships began forwards into attack position.

"Damn it, they've breeched the front line! Blast you Eggman!" Jericho snarled from between clenched teeth. "Fire the ground to orbit guns, shoot them out of the sky!"

"We can't sir!" Someone called up.

"What!"

"Something's locked us out of the network defence system." Another replied. Suddenly the main giant monitor towering over the entire war room switched itself on. The pixel image of the Eggman Empire icon appeared on screen flashing orange briefly, before a video-game sprite version of Eggman himself. It was almost a round stick figure, running along a cartoon ground with a smiling sun and perfectly green grass.

"So sorry, but your defensive systems have been rendered inoperative by the Eggman computer virus." The image announced, doing various comical expressions on screen such as pulling the skin under its eye down. Jericho's stunned face was left staring up in mute horror. "All orbital guns and automatic weapons defences are now offline. Have a nice day." The cartoon Eggman stunk its tongue out at them before it disappeared, leaving the Empire's symbol to replace it.

This world was nothing special as far as Baal was concerned. A merged world… so what? The fact it was a composite of two dimensions held no barring in this campaign. It wasn't overly impressive in the way of size and there were better sights of natural resources in this sector. The sixth fleet's only objective was to capture and use this planet as a command centre for their war against the Combined Federation. Finding the Black Arms in this solar system had been nothing more than a stroke of good grace. Reporting the presence of the rebellious sect would possibly earn them more supplies and troops but they would not come until their forces advanced across the badlands between the two spiral arms.

"We have broken through the human's defensive line sir." The report flashed up on screen even before he was alerted verbally to it. Their own advance force had pushed through the fray and was now in a low orbit around the planet itself. Everything so far had gone according to Doctor Eggman's strategy. For a world so technologically underdeveloped they had put up a good defence both above and on the planet itself. Removing the defenders without the intelligence and technology supplied by their new alley would have proven most difficult.

"Are the Mutants and Badniks ready for deployment?" Baal asked and the Fesonian officer to his left nodded. "We'll be dropping them in a moment, but first…" The admiral turned his attention back to the blue world before him. "…we soften the defences on the surface up. Inform all ships, begin orbital bombardment at once."

* * *

-

Laser strikes were coming down so hard and fast down on top of Westopalis, entire buildings were getting ripped to pieces in the space of a few seconds. Without the aid of the orbital guns, The G.U.N soldiers patrolling the streets were at the mercy of the strikes carving the heavens open. Entire streets began exploding one after the other, thick sprays of shattered tarmac and concrete projected high into the air falling back.

Even as their ships were still firing from orbit, the Confederates began dropping their own soldiers down to the ground. Genetically modified giants, these colossal beasts stood as tall as any Mech and had far superior physical strength. They looked like a fesonian on steroids, crashing down to the ground, crashing cars under their feet. Their scaly skin rippled with thick muscle underneath. A pair of short spikes rutting out of their shoulders, arching back towards their heads they used to charge at the advancing robots.

Flaming scrap metal went flying in every direction, Laser Hunter bots; Beetle's and even the new Zeus robots reduced to smouldering piles of scrap as these monsters gave chase.

And that was not the whole nightmare for the defenders. Eggman had sent his latest badniks down to assist the Fesonian mutants in their campaign. These new versions were now like the bulky humanoids he had deployed inside England. These were tall and thin, their legs arched and bi-pedal, a pair of large flat feet supporting the weight underneath. Each arm was colossal, ending in a huge mallet that they used to literally squash anything with a G.U.N icon on it into the ground.

This was the story in every major capitol and city on the entire planet. The invaders were everywhere, the Eggman Empire allies giving them the advance of far superior numbers. Their ships orbital bombardment was ripped G.U.N defensive strategy to pieces. Everything was falling apart around them. If the tide of battle did not change soon, it was going to be too late.

"This is Scorpion division, HQ, HQ come in!" One of the G.U.N soldiers yelled into the communications device he was holding with his other hand holding onto the handle of a sub-machine gun. Bullets, missiles and other projectiles were flying through the air at the invaders and the Eggman Empire allies but their numbers seemed unending. They were swarming through the city like an infestation of insects.

"No good, we've been cut off." Another told him, before being thrown backwards as a laser blast from the advancing Confederate line hit him straight in the centre of the chest.

A mutated giant charged forward, clasped in its thick fist a huge sword blade; the metal glowing bright purple and sparking with energy. It fell back as a giant shadow fell over it and an instant later, a thick mechanized foot came slamming down, squashing the alien beneath it. Looking up, the G.U.N soldiers cheered as a Yeager Mech marched overhead. In full military colours, it opened its entire arsenal at every hostile unit within range.

At least twenty giants were ripped apart in the explosion of missile fire, badniks exploding left right and centre under the pressure to their energy cores. The Confederates however were prepared for this. Doctor Eggman had given them up-to-date tactical information on the militaries robotic arsenal.

As more G.U.N Mech's began marching in to bring the offensive to the invaders, the aliens sent in their Hawks to retaliate. Despite the name, these genetically created creatures had nothing in common with birds. They were an evolution of the dragons the Black Arms used as fighters. They were smaller, but faster, more agile and intensely more aggressive. They swarmed down from the sky after being released from the ships and tore, literally, into the advancing robots. The Mech's toppled backwards one after the other, riddled with savagely torn holes.

"Fall back, fall bac…agggh!" The words were barely out before their officer was snatched up from the ground by thick claws and tossed into the air to be picked apart by the hungry flying creatures.

In Central City, the capitol itself and the G.U.N fortress was under direct attack. It's protective machine gun turrets were being ripped apart one by one, each layer of defence around the base falling, either torn apart physically by robots or giants; or destroyed by the death raining down from above.

"The defences won't hold much longer sir." Someone called up. Jericho snarled. Damn that Eggman! That traitorous scientist would pay with his life for this! "We have to evacuate."

"No!" The Commander replied sternly, clenching a fist. "I refuse to let them win like this!" The main screen before them buzzed as an incoming transmission was registered. A moment later, the familiar face of a black and red hedgehog appeared there. Shadow's face was looking down through a camera lenses. The word was blurred around him, showing he was moving at intense speeds. "You!" Jericho's eyes were instantly filled with more hate than his subordinates had ever seen in him before. "Get that monster off the screen!" He yelled at them.

"I won't do that if I where you." Shadow told him and the G.U.N technicians stayed their hands. "You need my help."

"I'll be rotting in hell before I do." Was the Commander's angry reply. "I have nothing to say to a freak like you!"

"Well this 'freak' can help you get your orbital guns back online." Shadow replied, keeping his tone unemotional. "I can get into the central command post and reactivate them manually, but I need to know the access codes."

"So you can use them to shoot down what's left of our own fleet?" Jericho asked back clenching a fist. "Not a chance!"

"You'll just have to trust me." Shadow added with a small smirk.

"After what you did on ARK?" The commander asked, the words slipping out in the heat of anger. "Forget it!" It was only then he realized he'd said too much. Shadow put on the breaks, sliding to a sudden halt. His smirk gone instantly from his face.

"ARK?" He repeated. "What do you know of the ARK?"

"Don't toy with me hedgehog." Jericho snared, reaffirming his anger. "We were both there; we both know what happened." Shadow was left staring at the small com-link attached to his wrist in utter confusion. While much of his memory had already returned, there were still many blank spots were he found himself unable to remember anything at all.

He could remember the Professor and Maria well enough and various bits and pieces from his time aboard the space colony, but the rest was blank. The only thing he remembered in any amount of great detail was that horrific day that ended his happy life.

Jericho's face lost a portion of the anger it was trying so hard to retain.

"The code is OMEGA: 8-tango-3." He stated looking away as if so repelled by the sight of Shadow's eyes he couldn't look at him. "That will get you access to manual firing mode. Now if you're going to do something, get going!"

"Wait!" But Shadow's call was cut off, the line going dead as the magnetic interference from a laser blast got in the way. "Damn it!" He hissed, ripping the useful device from his wrist and smashed it into the ground before making an escape from the deadly attacks. Shadow speed along as the shockwaves from the thick succession of blasts, the ground shaking underneath him.

Westopalis, despite housing a large G.U.N garrison came under such a furious attack it might as well have been defended by girl scouts. Nothing the defenders threw against the invaders was working. At the very least, Shadow could stop the deadly laser rain from crashing down on top of them.

Scooping up a dropped weapon in his aimed, the black and red hedgehog reloaded the cartridge of the machine gun before speeding on. The Westopalis garrison was the central information network for the entire militaries defensive systems. Every part of their automatic defensives could be activated remotely from there. All Shadow had to do was activate the orbital guns and the entire Confederate fleet would be blasted out of the sky.

Providing that it, if he could actually reach the controls. He raised his weapon as the shadow of a giant mutated fesonian cast itself over him. As it marched out he riddled its entire front with bullets . It scatted back wounded and as it did, Shadow shot around the back of the creature and delivered a thick blow across the back of its neck. The bones within snapped and it crashed forward onto its front.

Responding to the fall of their alley, Eggman's badniks came souring around the corner, prancing like gazelles on their long legs. The cartridge of his gun empty, Shadow simply tossed the weapon aside and crossed his arms in front of his body.

"Chaos…." He began and instantly a thick red glow began to pulsate around his body, sparking like electricity and growing more intense. The robots came to a sudden halt, reading a massive increase in energy transmission. "BLAST!" Throwing a clenched fist down into the ground, Shadow released the build up of energy in one focussed burst.

Jericho could never forgive Shadow. That was an impossibly and no one could ask that of him, circumstances dictated needs however and the commander was forced to rely on his help. Once this was over how, they were going to have words.

"The alien forces are still advancing sir." He growled at the report. He was already well are of that! He was out of options. If this command centre was taken then the entire defence would be for nothing.

"Mobilize the Diablon!" He declared and everyone in the room fell silent. "What's the matter, you heard me! Prepare the second prototype for combat at once!"

"But sir construction isn't complete yet." Someone replied.

"I don't care." The commander retorted, rising from his seat. "It's still the most powerful weapon in our arsenal." The protests of his subordinates did nothing to deter him as he made for the door. The Diablon was a Mech prototype G.U.N had been developing using technology taken from both the Black Arms and the Eggman Empire. So far, both the prototype and the production unit were incomplete but they possessed fire power that surpassed anything current available.

There was, thus far, no pilot capable of managing the juggernaut and the commander would not endanger any one else's life. There was one local choice for its operator.

Himself.

* * *

-

Charging through the ships like a golden Comet, Super Sonic barely had enough time to see the Confederate ships before he was ploughing into them; tearing through them one after the other; leaving a trail of exploding space craft in his wake. But his target was not them, but rather the Egg Carrier in the distance.

Take that out, and the Confederates supporting Egg Fleet would have their brains shut down. That; and paying Eggman back for his betrayal would be most pleasurable.

Several Shark battleships came at him from the side, their gun turrets rotating around to point directly at them. Spinning his entire body up, Super Sonic ascended rapidly and avoided being hit with the barrage. Before the ships could take aim again, he tore down on them and plunged through them, tearing through the hulls. One after the other they exploded in a dazzling display of light.

Flying on, Super Sonic soured past a Confederate ship as it made its way towards the Earth. Once he had past it, he drew his arm back and fired a golden version of the Sonic Wind vortex after it. The swirling energy tore the vessel apart and it detonated nearly instantly.

"And just where do you think you're going little hedgehog?" A voice asked. Glancing to the side Super Sonic just growled at the sight of Eggman's face on the monitor of a flying monitor screen. Baring his teeth he arched his arm and blasted the screen with a short energy blast. It exploded in a spray of charred metal, but another seemed to just fly out of no where to take its place. "I'm not that easy to discard Sonic me lad." Eggman added; his face reappearing. "Face it boy, you failed. Earth is mine!"

"Over my dead body!"

"I was hoping you'd say that." There was a sudden whooshing sound from above and the gold hedgehog had to fly backwards sharply to avoid being crushed as something extremely large crashed through the remains of battleship floating above. "Meet my newest toy!" The thing was absolutely colossal as it raised itself up casting a shadow over Super Sonic, over six times the hedgehog's own height. It was shaped like one of the doctors own Eggpawn's and covered in thick golden armour almost like a knights. One hand was a constant closed metal fist that could easily crush bones between its fingers and the other was a huge armoured wrecking ball covered with spikes. "Custom made especially for you; may I present, the E3001: Egg Breaker!"


	3. Episode 2, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!

Episode 2: The loosing battle

* * *

Central City was now almost completely engulfed in flames. The citizenry had been evacuated to the country long before the attack commenced, but that did not seem to matter. The barrage from the alien ships in orbit was carving holes all over the entire world. Where it hit cities, entire city blocks came crashing down. It dug giant craters into the ground, boring down so far magma began seeping up after it. The seas writhed and boiled where it struck the ocean, storms and tidal waves instantly surging; striking the coast with tremendous force.

Reaching the G.U.N fortress defence line, the Badniks went in first. As disposal metallic units they were expendable. Throwing themselves against the machine gun turrets many of them feel, riddled with holes but their efforts allowed those behind them to make it to the defences without serious damage. Explosions rang out as one by one, the militaries automated defences were stripped away. Once a sizable hole had been ripped in the lines, the aliens Giants committed themselves to a charge.

Zeus robots formed a defence line, raising their guns and firing an intense volley into the advancing wall of extraterrestrial muscle. Several of them fell back, green blood spraying out into the air. The others, undaunted by the display of firepower kept on going. Reaching the robots they grabbed them with their bare hands and ripped the machines apart. As the Zeus' were forced to fall back, the Beetle sentries flew in to take their place. A threat in numbers, these flying robots swarmed around the invaders and brought five down with an intense volley of bullets.

Flying to the aid of their allies, the badniks charged straight into the Beetles and brought half of their number down before they knew what hit them. Seeing no other option, G.U.N sent in the Mech's. Whatever pilots were left on the base scrambled for the hang bays, throwing themselves into the open cockpits and locking themselves into the seats.

Rising up out of the base's underground chambers on specialized elevators, a few of them starting firing even before their Walkers had left the confines of the base. It was a dismissal force to send against the invaders. Only five outdated Big foot Mech's and two Nova's. The only ray of hope came when a huge shutter door pulled aside and a gigantic artillery class Anubis Mech lumbered out, shaking the ground with it's slow by heavy foot steps.

They put up a good defence at first, managed to drive some of the aliens back beyond the perimeter fence. But then it seemed the ships in orbit got wind of the resistance and concentrated their fire down at the base itself. They missed the buildings but several Mech's were caught in the deadly blast. They didn't just explode; their forms were reduced to smouldering piles of ash on the base ground. With their depleted numbers, the aliens and badniks returned after regrouping and attacked. A Big Foot and the Hot Shot Mech were the first to gone down, one shot to pieces by the badniks and the other ripped apart by the aliens.

Now, only the Anubis was left. Firing its full arsenal, it drove the invaders back. The Mech was an artillery walker and designed for this sort of gun slinging scenario. Unfortunately it had a weakness. While engaged in firing mode, its legs were rooted to the spot; leaving it unable to dodge enemy fire.

The badniks withdrew to a safe distance and engaged with a long range cannon. Metal shards flew from the legs of the walker before they broke apart completely and still with missiles firing, the Mech collapsed. At the last second the pilot ejected, his seat propelling itself into the air and a parachute opening out to carry him to safety.

Now that the defenders were now lying at their feet, consumed to fire; the robotic units began advancing. They stopped however when another lift leading directly into the underground section of the base began rising. G.U.N it seemed had one last card to play.

And what a card it was.

Diablon was unlike any previous G.U.N mech. Where as all the others had been bi-pedal walkers, this one retained a humanoid shape, only without the legs. It appeared to be like a giant torso and arms, the head an armoured camera lens that sent images back into the concealed cockpit within. The arms were wide and colossal, clenched articulated fists ready to deliver punches capable of knocking a building over. The armour was completely blood red, the military 'G' symbol placed upon each forearm standing out boldly.

The prototype for their new line of solider Mech's, the Diablon was equipped with many custom build generators and special defence equipment. What gave its defensive advantage was its shield. The shoulder pads were actually ion projectors, casting an ionized shield around the entire Mech; protecting it from projectiles. Bullets and laser blasts simply bounced off it.

The badniks froze in place. This mechanized unit was not in their database and as such they were unsure of what to do about it. Their course of action however became more than apparent when the Diablon raised its large armoured head, two thick plates of the armoured peeling back both at once to reveal a cannon's barrel. A focused laser beam projectile tore out, ripped through two badniks like a hot knife through butter. They exploded with fragments of metal flying out into the air.

"This is as far as you go." Jericho, Commander of G.U.N stated; standing inside the cockpit of the Mech watching through a video screen as the badniks regrouped and threw themselves into formation for an attack. Just behind them the Aliens had burst through the defences themselves, an entire row of their Giants, each one armed with a bizarre looking gun; a curved grey item with an arched pit as the barrel. "You've crossed far too much ground already." Unlike other walkers were the pilot sat down, this new Mech required the pilot to stand. Revolutionary Black Arm technology into the machines system allowed the Mech to detect the movements of the controller. His hands placed on tow sensor pads, the Commander was controlling the prototype with nothing but his mind.

It was a difficult system to control but he would have to adapt and quickly. The enemy had the advantage of numbers and they were preparing to charge. With the automated defensive systems offline, he and Diablon were the only things standing between them and the G.U.N command centre.

"So come on, who wants to go first?" He declared, bringing the arms of the Mech back and arching; the thrusters at the back of the machine firing out an exhaust of energy before the Diablon rocketed forward into the waiting enemy lines.

* * *

-

"I can't believe it!" Chuck declared angrily. "I thought that just once, just the once we could count on Eggman to do the right thing." He slammed his fist down into the console in front of him. "He's just a greedy son of a…"

"Incoming!" Chris declared, throwing the controls of the Blue Typhoon down to avoid a thick barrage of laser fire from Confederate ships as they shot overhead. The space around them was thick with fighting; scrap metal remains of ships belonging to nearly every fleet were building up here and threw; the remaining forces continuing to barrage each other. G.U.N was loosing badly. Eggman had already done extensive damage to their fleet from within and now the Confederates had broken through their back lines and were making an attempt on the planet itself.

"We've go to stop those ships from firing!" Topaz shouted, jabbing a finger at the Confederate ships that were bombarding the planet with intense laser fire. "Get us over there!"

"Roger." Chris replied and instantly the Typhoon did a U-turn, avoiding some Egg Fleet Shark battle ships and soared back towards the Earth. Sensing their intention it seemed, the Confederate fleet lined itself up into formation to intercept. All turrets and cannons on the ship rose up into position and hit the alien vessels with an intense barrage, blowing huge holes in some and throwing others out of their positions. Punching a hole through their defence, the Typhoon soared on.

Not being to fight directly, the only way Chaotix found they were able to contribute was by piloting some of the Mech's Okida had left behind in the Blue Typhoon's hanger bay. They never thought the major would have left them anything to use after they returned his spider mech in such terrible condition the last time.

"YaHHOOOOOO!" Charmy called out as the Crocodile piloted the Yeager Mech through the gaps in the immense battle. Piloting the machine was not as complicated as Okida made it look. It was almost like an enlarged video game but Vector constantly had to force himself to remember there were no extra lives in this game.

Each mech being a two man machine, Chaotix had spilt up. Vector and Charmy had taken the Yeager out for a full of battle, while staying try to his nature; Espio had taken the Nova walker. This machine was almost as good as he was at hiding its presence on the battlefield and once in position could strike before anyone knew it was there.

With no flight capabilities in zero G, the Nova jumped from ship to ship; invisible to both radar and whatever form of navigation the Confederates were using. One of the ship of a Shark Battle ship, it tilted its bulk down and riddled the deck with an intense barrage of bullets; rendering the turrets useless before they could fire. To finish the vessel off, Espio fired several missiles into the bridge and the back end of the ship detonated in an impressive explosion. As the fire crept rapidly along the ship, the Nova jumped off onto a passing G.U.N ship as it shot past.

Rei sat in the co-pilots seat behind the chameleon with his legs crossed, arms folded and eyes closed. He had put himself in a state of readiness, making himself more perceptible to his yet unexplainable ability to predict future events with great accuracy.

"Left." He stated without opening his eyes and Espio complied, throwing the mech into a dive directly to the side to avoid a laser beam fired from the bow of a Confederate ship. "Down." The nova dived, ducking underneath the path of a falling ship as it plunged towards the planet it flames. "About face; fire." The entire top half of the walker rotated around 180 degrees before firing two missiles into the path of an oncoming Egg battleship.

"This is not what I imagined my life as a detective would be like." Vector admitted, narrowly avoiding being hit by a barrage of laser fire by the Confederate's fleet.

"No, but this is way more fun!" Charmy replied leaning over his shoulder. "Lookie lookie, bad guys to port!" Forgetting that Charmy couldn't tell left from right, Vector turned his head in the wrong direction. Missiles came from the opposite direction striking the mech will full forced and sending it spiralling backwards towards the planet, pushing it dangerously close to falling into the atmosphere. "Or was that starboard?"

"Make up your mind!" Vector snarled, tilted the controls around so the Yeager fired its thrusters at the last second and soured on. The missiles pads on its shoulders opened up and the last two missiles left inside the machine fired, striking the Egg Fleet ship which had taken a pot shot at them.

"Guys we've got trouble here." Charmy began to the others through the communications hub link. "We're out of ammo."

"Head on back to the Blue Typhoon and they'd reload you." Someone stated as a metallic red blur shot by.

The Albatross Mech, based on designs of one of Doctor Eggman's own machine was the fastest war machine on the battlefield. Flying just like a bird it was souring past the opposition with tremendous speed, missiles firing from under each wing as it went; striking Confederate and Egg Fleet ships alike sending them down in flames towards the planet.

A veteran pilot, Okida was used to the fast battle reports that flashed up moment after moment on the control screen. To him now it was all in slow motion. Despite his skill he found the enemy's numbers would easily be able to overwhelm them all and the Confederates had already gained a dangerous strategic advantage.

"G.U.N's lost over half their ships already." Topaz told him over the communications link to the cockpit.

"And we're barley making a dent in their numbers." Okida replied, his flying mech doing a full 350 degree spiral to tear through the side of a Confederate battleship.

"Hold on then, I'm sending out the big guns."

As soon as the Blue Typhoon reached dropping formation, the door leading to the ships main interior hanger bay began to slide open.

"Omega, Emerl; hit them with everything you've got." Topaz added, speaking into the com link on the side of the captain's chair.

"Roger." Omega replied, his large red eyes glowing bright blood red as his arms spread out. With a metallic clank his metal talons tensed and flexed. Emerl as usual said nothing. His only reply was to unfold his arms and clenched both fists. The hanger door opened and the pull of the vacuum sucked anything not anchored down outside. Being magnetically attached to the floor, both robots remained in place. Outside they observed the battle, all the ships around exchanging fire. Some of them were falling towards the atmosphere in flames; a good few of them baring G.U.N insignia's. "Target sighted." The E123 stated; the legs underneath bending to a crouching position. "All units, fall into attack formation." The two thrusters on the back of the android opened up like a flower bud spreading out and a blast of energy sent the robot flying out into the melee.

Emerl followed a moment later, the new thrusters installed onto the back of his legs propelling him forward. It took a moment for the robot to handle the basics. He was a unit designed and custom built for land based engagement. Still, once he had managed the thrusters it did not take him long to get stuck in.

His metallic fists launched from their wrists, tearing through Confederate ships as they passed by. Clenching around the ships interior, they tore it apart from the inside before returning to their owner.

Omega's method of fighting was far more classical for machines. He overpowered his enemies with his sheer amount of fire power. Leaving the Confederate Ships to Emerl, he concentrated upon the Egg Fleet. Souring past the sharp battle ships, he raised both arms and fired his machine guns. A series of holes tore their way across the hull, making two turrets useless. To finish the ship off two missiles were fired into the back of the thrusters. A chain reaction tore the vessel apart from the inside.

His radar informed him of an incoming; but the return echo did not sound like an approaching projectile. His head rotated around to see another robot come flying at him. As soon as it was within range, it pointed its right arm forward and fired several shots from a laser rifle.

Omega flew backwards and slid to a stop across the bow of a G.U.N ship leading the militaries charge into the invaders front lines. His new opponent landed directly in front of him. Now the E123 had the chance to see it more closely, he could see it was an E100 model just like himself.

The two robots faced each other, their sensors scanning their opponent at regular intervals.

"E102: Gamma." Omega stated the name of his new adversary, the registry number for the robotic unit appearing on his internal sensor.

"E123: Omega." Gamma replied, raising the laser rifle on his right arm. "Rouge unit; faction, Guardian Units for Nations. Proceeding with termination."

The fire power exchanged between the two androids made them a beacon even to the Earth below. Each managed to dodge the barrage, souring through space with a trail of exploding missiles after them. Being the superior in strength, Omega decided his best option was to engage using hand to hand combat. Souring forward with arms outstretched, he ploughed into Gamma sending them both crashing into the side of an Egg Fleet Shark Ship.

They exchanged blows that left dents in their armour as they plunged through the ships hull, tearing through floor after floor before finally smashing their way onto the bridge. The only things manning the consoles on the bridge with dozens of Egg Pawns; all of which made a dash for it, only to get pull out into space by the vacuum.

Several short range missiles fired from concealed compartments inside Gamma's body and unable to dodge Omega took the blast head on. Throwing out of the bridge into space by the explosion, the android righted himself with the thrusters of his back and once he was balanced; sent every projectile he could spare directly in Gamma's general direction. It was only the lightning fast response time of an electronic mind that allowed E102 to dive out of the way before the ship's entire top half began exploding in a storm of fire and melted fragments.

* * *

-

The Egg Breaker had been custom designed especially to fight Super Sonic. Eggman had taken a great deal of time perfecting the android to be the perfect weapon against the one thing that had hampered him throughout his entire career. Also the Doctor was not leaving the task of doing away with the hedgehog to any electronic brain. This robot, Eggman was remote controlling himself.

Having seen the hedgehogs fighting techniques already, he could predict just how Super Sonic would come at him. Using virtual reality software, Eggman placed his hands inside a pair of gloves laced with wires and whenever he moved his hands the Egg Breaker would correspond.

Finding the robot to be faster than him was a surprise, but finding that it possessed strength equal to his own was perhaps more shocking. No matter how much he tried to press through, Super Sonic kept finding the Egg Breaker blocking his attacks with the bracer on the left arm.

"You think you can take me?" The golden hedgehog asked as he soured back a distance. His body arched and spun, curving into a perfect sphere before rocketing forward with a sonic boom made mute by the vacuum of space.

"I do not think I can." Eggman replied, holding up his hands and arching his fingers. Responding, the Egg breaker's eyes glowed blood red and the machine came to a sudden stop. "I know I can." Super Sonic's bash shot forward like a bullet towards the Egg Breaker; which remained perfectly still and simply let the hedgehog rocket nearer.

When the two were a mere solid meter away from colliding, the giant pieces of armoured pads on the shoulders of the robotic solider disconnected and spread out revealing the machinery underneath, with a pair of lights glowing a bright gold.

In a single instant a thick covering of flaxen yellow encircled the Egg breaker and Super Sonic struck it with full force.

Opposing polar opposite forces connected with one another and a single spark flew off into the ether before the hedgehog was repelled backwards at tremendous speed.

Barely a moment of time passed before he connected sharply with the asteroid belt around the planet, crashing through the rocks that had once been a part of the moon; only coming to a stop when he collided with one too thick to punch through.

"We've been rivals for years." He heard Eggman say as he pulled himself out of the crater he had made on impact.

Flying towards him at greet speed was the Egg Breaker, the arm with the wrecking ball attached drawn back ready to strike. "By now we should be able to predict each others moves." Super Sonic cupped his hands before throwing them forward, unleashed the enhanced Sonic Wind attack.

The Egg Breaker held its free hand out in front of itself and curving around it, the golden glow moulded itself into a shield. The vortex of energy streamed over it like water. "It's just such a damn shame I'm the only one who picked up the talent!" The spiked wrecking ball came down hard, shattering the asteroid to pieces mere milliseconds before Super Sonic flew to safety.

"Predict this then!" The golden hedgehog declared, rebounding off a passing rock before rocketing forward towards the Egg Breaker with a fist drawn back.

"Already have." Eggman replied, holding his arms back and the robot responded by somersaulting backwards out of the way and as soon as the hedgehog was in firing range; launched four missiles down at him.

Throwing energy discharges up as anti-ballistics, Super Sonic hit about three but the third struck him with full force.

Recovering from the inertia the golden hedgehog tried to rebound off a passing asteroid but the Egg Breaker soured in and clamped its huge cold metal fist around his body, pinning his arms to his side. "I can see each and every move you make before it even enters your head." The robot reared its arm back and tossed the hedgehog like a baseball through the asteroid belt. Sent smashing into the atmosphere at full tilt, Super Sonic felt the heat burn around him as he fell. Anger forcing him on, he slowed himself down and came to a stop.

The Egg Breaker was still waiting for him just beyond the asteroids, standing on the bow of a Shark battleship. Slowly it raised a hand, before performing a 'bring it on' gesture with its hand. Fuming, Super Sonic soured upwards, punching through the belt in a display of power as any rock in his way exploded.

Seeing the incoming hostile, the ship about faced and soared away from the planet; charging back into the frenzied battle zone.

"Get back here you coward!" Flying after it, Super Sonic soured on. There was no way he was going to let Eggman defeat him now! The ship was fast but with the seven Chaos Emeralds augmenting his skills, he was faster. A silent sonic boom sent him flying forward as a greater speed, shockwaves glowing gold spreading out behind him.

On the bow of the ship the Egg Breaker glanced back over its shoulder to see the golden point behind the vessel growing brighter.

"That's it Hedgehog." Eggman began with a sneer. "Follow the leader." The robot gestured to its right with a finger before doing the same with its left, signalling the fleet in stand-by mode.

Super Sonic glanced around as Egg Fleet ships began gathering around him, matching his speed. Turrets, cannons and even laser guided missile launchers all rotated around to point directly at him. The hedgehog smiled grimly in response. If the weapons discharged inside an atmosphere they would have made a terrible roar, but in space the noise of their firing was mute.

"Chaos Control!" Super Sonic proclaimed and vanished in a blip of green light. The projectiles carried on through the haze, some of them striking the ships on the other side and forcing them to withdraw.

"Impressive trick Sonic." Eggman admitted but still the grin refused to leave his face, spreading up under the length of his moustache. "Pity it's just about as predictable as your others." Without hesitation the Egg Breaker about faced and swung its wrecking ball arm down. Super Sonic emerged out of the warp right in the path expecting to find the robot unawares.

Yelping, he had just enough time to grab the spikes on the ball and hold the weapon at bay before it could hit him. "Strange really. I always had you pinned at the impulsive and unpredictable type." The doctor relented as the hedgehog was forced down to one knee under the strength the Egg Breaker was pushing down. "This is the only instance where I enjoy being wrong."

"I'm… I'm not finished yet Eggman." The hedgehog managed in a grunted reply.

"Oh yes, thank you for reminding me." The Egg Breaker continued pressing down, trying to crush Super Sonic under its spiked wrecking ball. Even with the seven Chaos Emeralds fuelling him, the hedgehog felt himself slipping. His grip on the spikes was loosening.

This was a battle of will.

"If you can predict me…." He began, the colour of his fur beginning to fade from yellow back to blue. If he ran out of energy now he was a dead man. Eggman forced his robot on, his hands slowly closing into a fist inside the gloves connected to the control device. "Then let's see you forecast this!" His fur turned bright overbearing gold in an instant, his body burning with new found energy. His eyes snapped open, a red glow trailing after them.

"What!" Eggman snarled as he found the hedgehog pushing back against the Egg Breaker, the robots arm slowly forced up. The hedgehogs fingers tightened and the huge weapon like arm began to crack.

With one final shove, Super Sonic tossed the Egg Breaker off. The android staggered backwards several paces and the shockwaves sent through it broke its arm off. The entire thing dropped to pieces right before it. Eggman did not understand. This was not in his data and he had had every opportunity to see Super Sonic fight before. "All ships, open fire!" The Doctor ordered and the vessels around rotated around to face directly at Super Sonic. The entire hedgehog's body was surrounded by an orb of golden energy, sparking with bolts of blue lightning across its swirling surface.

"Chaos…" He began almost silently as the weapons systems of the ships locked onto him, missile hatches opening up across the ships. "Blast!" Throwing his fist down, Super Sonic sent powerful shockwaves spreading outwards.

The ship he was standing on broke apart in that signal instant. As the blast spread out, any other vessels caught in its way were sent flying backwards, smashing into anything in their way. Those closets were destroyed, their fragments blowing outwards in a spectacular fire storm.

Caught at ground zero, the Egg Breaker lasted only a brief moment as its armour began peeling off it; before finally it was completely consumed by the blast and vanished in the light.

The gloves dropped from Eggman's hands and the Doctor stood there looking stunned. That was Shadow's attack! Just how had Sonic learnt it? It had been devastated enough on its own but with the Chaos Emeralds backing it, it had been enough to completely destroy the Egg Breaker; a machine he custom built with Super Sonic in mind.

"Impossible." He breathed staring at the words 'Contact Lost' across the screen.

Super Sonic's energy was beginning to wane, forcing him to land on the scared hull of a destroyed Eggman Empire shark battleship drifting away from the battle zone. The seven Chaos Emeralds could only be used in unison for so long with a single conduit to harness their power and using an attack he was nearly completely unfamiliar with had taken a lot out of him.

Already his golden fur was beginning to loose its glow, parts of turning from gold to royal blue and back again. The Eggman Empire fleet lay in ruins around him, sparking with the energy discharge unleashed to destroy it.

Blinking several times to restore his red eyes after they started to change back to emerald green, Super Sonic looked up to see Metal Sonic land beside him. His red cape had been reduced to a short blackened piece of red clothe attached to his shoulders. His armour had various spots on it were it had taken direct hits from various skirmishes.

"You do realize that if you run out of energy here, the airless vacuum of space with kill you instantly?" The robotic hedgehog asked.

"I'm hardly likely to forget that." Super Sonic replied, struggling for breath. In truth, he was not actually breathing as there was to air for respiration. The breath was just an involuntary reaction. In truth he was giving time to his body to absorb more power from the seven Chaos Emeralds.

Suddenly, the space around them seemed to vibrate and push outwards, like the surface of water rippling. There was a sudden short pulsating flash and the space in front of them was now occupied.

This new arrival was perhaps the most hideous item Sonic had ever seen.

Like a twisted vegetative mass it pulsated, veins running over its lime green surface pulsated with the beating of more than one heart. Like a plant it had routes spiralling out the bottom, intertwined with each other, swaying gently in none existent wind. Form arms there were simply too branch like limbs curved out either side, stray threads like twigs spraying out long the upper outline. But it was the head more than anything that drew Super Sonic's attention to itself.

Misshapen and mutated out of proportions, it looked like twisted creeper plant wrapped around a bulky branch. A single wide neon green eye stared out from above the only other feature in the face, a wide mouth with several layers of serrated teeth like a shark.

"Greetings." The words sighed from between its lips without them moving. The eye blinked, the lids coming in from the side rather than above; closing and opening with a wet slap. "What a pleasure it is to behold you again."

"Do I know you?" Super Sonic asked. This being was unique enough to be remembered for years on end. If he had met him before it would have been a memorable encounter.

"No I don't suppose you would recall me…" The strange creature admitted, the long plant like limbs and appendages over its twisting body moving outwards in a straight arch. "At least not in this form." A sudden wave passed through the space between them, a magnetic pull Super Sonic could feel tugging away at the energy shield around him. "Perhaps I should adopt a face more familiar?" Pieces of metal from destroyed ships, G.U.N, Imperial and Confederate alike began flying forward pulled out from the wreckage around.

Drawn by the magnetic force, they began circling around the strange creature and suddenly one by one they began flying together; fitting with each other like a complex jigsaw puzzle. Once enough pieces had been joined, they started moulding themselves into armour around the creature, a large segmented plate curving itself around to become a torso chest plate like another curved itself around the head for a helmet. Super Sonic watched as piece by piece, a very familiar face began reappearing. A piece of curved translucent material slid effortlessly into the centre of the new helmet and two plate pieces of spiked silver metal lanced out flat either side like horns, a sharp curved piece running up from the back to hang forward over a curved metallic face.

Finally Super Sonic knew who this was.

"Dark Oak!" He proclaimed as the new head lifted itself up and the hedgehog beheld the fixed metal face of Metal Sonic's strongest general, a traitor of Metal X and servant to the dark god Krish Kra Pal.


	4. Episode 2, part 2

Episode 2, part 2:

* * *

"You!" Metal Sonic hissed, his red eyes glowing brightly, bolts of energy enriched by anger sparking through his metal claws. "Impossible!" Super Sonic had to second that. The last they had seen of Dark Oak, he had assumed his true form to aid Krish in his revival, transforming himself into a three headed hydra. Metal Sonic, Shadow and himself had killed him by using Okida's turtle Mech and it's cannon to fire them all at once straight at him. They had torn through him and the resulting backlash of their combined energies had turned his body to dust. "We all saw you die!"

"Your failure to destroy me is the least of your problems." Dark Oak told them as the metal armour finished forming around his hideous true body, the samurai like appearance reforming instantaneously, two pieces of long torn clothe that had once formed a G.U.N flag flying to his shoulders to re-make his wing like cape. Both metal fists closed with a loud metallic ringing and his new armour seemed to mould to make a flawlessly smooth surface and changing colour from a mixture of greys and silver to purple. Even his cape changed from a tattered military icon to dark grey. The eye on both his chest and his forehead glowed bright green. "Surprised to see me?"

"I sent you to the grave once before, I can do it again." Metal Sonic declared; launching himself forward with claws outstretched. Dark Oak's hand trailed out to his left and instantly a piece of jagged metal from the destroyed ships flew to his waiting palm, remoulding itself back into his scimitar sword as it flew. The hilt was clenched by metal fingers before the blade swing itself around.

Metal Sonic clasped his hands together at the last minute, slapping the sword between his flat palms.

"As much as I'd love to continue…" Dark Oak began, his green eye glowing brightly. Energy manifesting as bolts of purple lightning began sparking around the hands clenching the hilt. "I can not allow you to waste my time like this." The energy shot down the sword blade and burnt into Metal Sonic's arms. Smoke flew out into space from between the gaps in the robotic hedgehogs armour. Forced to let go, Metal Sonic threw a kick forward defensively before backing off to a safe distance.

Super Sonic raised his hands for an energy blast. Dark Oak shook his head at him. "Don't bother, you'd just be wasting energy and you don't have it to spare…" He paused. "Not that it really matters, you've already lost." Super Sonic blinked in confusion. Dark Oak jabbed a metal finger towards the Earth behind them. "Take a good look at the prize you sought to protect." Metal Sonic and Super Sonic glanced back to see that to their horror, the Confederate advance fleet had broken through G.U.N's defence line.

While half of their numbers were engaged in skirmishes with the military fleet, the other half had begun bombarding the planet below with a high barrage of laser blasts. The scars they were carving across the planets surface were visible even from this far away.

Suddenly the Doctor's strategy became clear. His robotic, dispensable fleet had drawn Sonic and the others away from the planet along enough for the Confederates more advanced numbers to break through and attack the planet. Eggman had been playing them for fools from the very beginning, everything worked out as he planned even after he revealed his true colours!

"Damn you Eggman!" Super Sonic hissed, flying off like a golden comet back towards the planet. Metal Sonic was close behind him, only to find that their path was blocked as Dark Oak flew to incept them. "You won't stop us!"

"Stopping you isn't my task." The general replied sword in hand. "You're too late Sonic the Hedgehog, the Earth is lost. The Confederates have already won."

"Enough wordplay!" Metal Sonic snarled, throwing out a single had in front of himself, a ball of sparking chaos energy beginning to burn between his metal talons. "I don't know how you survived and in truth, I don't much care. We haven't time for this nonsense so get out of the way or prepare to be destroyed." Silence endured once more, broken only by the crackling of energy.

"I can see you have not changed." Dark Oak replied. "And you're right; we don't have time for this nonsense." His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword as he raised his blade into the air. "I have a task to complete and to do it I require the energy of the Chaos Emeralds." Swinging his sword down, Dark Oak aimed the tip directly at Super Sonic. "This may sting." He added before a bolt of lightning leapt from the blade and crashed headfirst into the hedgehog, causing him to convulse; arching back as if in the throws of a spasm. Energy began reserving, flowing out of Super Sonic's body, down the sword and into Dark Oak himself.

Metal Sonic flew forward smashing his closed fist straight into his former general's head. The impact hardly made a dent. The general freed one of his hands from the hilt of his sword and lashed out a moment later, grabbing the robotic hedgehog by the throat and holding him in an iron grasp. "I'm not here to kill you so please don't make my job any more difficult…" And the next part he added with honest reluctance in his voice. "My new ally needs you alive."

* * *

--

With most of the G.U.N ships in retreat, the Confederate fleet had turned its attention to the one thing left to crush to claim supremacy in space. The Blue Typhoon itself. A thick unending succession of laser bombardment struck against the Egg-Shield surrounding the ship, the shockwaves shorting out systems throughout the entire ship.

"We can't take much more of this!" Chuck cried out. "The Master Emerald can't maintain the shield and we've out of missiles."

"Hard to port, seven degrees down by a factor of ten." Topaz announced and Chris threw himself at the helm controls. The ship dipped down avoiding the thick streams of lasers, but the Confederates changed their trajectory and fired after them.

The Egg Carrier had taken up flanking position alongside the Confederate's flagship, providing the alien ship with cover fire as it sent in the last of its ships. G.U.N's own ships were being pushed back further and further. By now they had nearly retreated into the atmosphere itself. Any further back and their vessels would burn up in the fall.  
"We have them on the ropes dear Baal." The doctor began, now as giddy as a school girl. "I suppose one last charge ought to finish the defences off."

"They certainly put up a better fight that I expected." The alien commander replied without looking Eggman in the face. "But I agree. We should end this now. I have reports from my ground forces that they are a stones throw away from capturing the headquarters in the capital settlement."

"If that's the case then one last display of power should do it." The doctor added, pressing a button on the end of his arm rest.

Omega's claws struck Gamma along the side of his armour, metal tearing through metal. Fragments of red shards flew off into space and E102 was forced to back off, laying down a cover fire of bullets. Going in for the kill, Omega darted in closer; arms outstretched wide ready to slash away at the armour plating. The two clashed and a power struggle commenced, the two trying to push the other two. Being the superior in terms of pure strength Omega began to force Gamma backwards towards the edge of the ship. Sinking his feet down to anchor himself, Gamma began to push back.

Under Omega's metallic grip his arms began to buckle, the metal crumpling like paper. Bolts of electricity sparked down through the limbs as wires and cables inside began to tear.

As a last resort Gamma tried to fire his machine guns at close range; only to find that his ammunition had been used up; the guns making a loud clattering sound. His missiles were all used up too. With no ammunition to defend himself with, Gamma faced the prospect of having his arms ripped off.

With no other options, E102 brought his head back before throwing it forward sharply slamming it directly into Omega's left shoulder. E123 shuddered under the assault but did not let go. His arms at their structural limits, Gamma struck again with another head butt. Again and again he kept pounding his head against the shoulder trying to force the arm to let go before his own snapped like twigs. Eventually the armour over his optics had a large dent in it.

To finish off the hold, Gamma's right left twisted around sharply and struck Omega's chest head on. Thrown backwards with such force, E124 found his own arm wrenched from its socket. Finally the hand left go as the arm was sent flying off into space, vanishing in the melee of the battlefield never to be seen again.

The words; **_Damage Critical_**; kept repeating themselves over and over again across the internal screen of Omega's system monitor. The loss of an arm had left him severely unbalanced and the energy expended was draining his battery. He slumped down to one knee; wires spraying out the side of the ragged wound were his arm should be.

Gamma hadn't gotten away completely undamaged either. His laser rifle on his right arm had been crushed useless and the hydraulics to his fingers weren't working. Bits of his armour plating were floating away from him as he stood back up. The two robots faced each other again, already clear that despite their injuries they intended to continue this fight.

Suddenly, several intruders arrived out of a teleportation. Omega's eyes glanced from side to side as appearing in a circle around him were more of Doctor Eggman's elite robots. Metal Knuckles was at his right, fully repaired and updated; three jagged metal claws on the edge of each gigantic bracer instead of two.

To the left was the only surviving E1000 unit: Theta. Eggman had taken the time to update him as well. Both arms were now supporting two flame throwers along with one on each shoulder. Missile launcher pads were attached to the shins and along the outside edge of the chest.

Cutting E123 off completely was the fourth elite robot; a sniper class machine known as Egg Robo; the length of an assassin's rifle already in its hands; a red optic glaring at Omega through the lens.

Gamma looked as confused as Omega to this sudden intrusion.

"This is my mission." He stated to the others; who simply ignored him and advanced on Omega.

"All traitor units must be destroyed." Metal Knuckles replied giving E102 a glance over his shoulder. "No mercy for renegades." Similar programming had been engraved into Gamma's own system and he had been acting under those orders in this battle, but this had also been determined as a test of skill against two E100 units by his electronic brain. For others units to come in and assist hinted at a lack of trust on Eggman's behalf in Gamma's abilities.

Metal Knuckles struck Omega down the side slicing through the anti-ballistic armour with ease, the tips of all three claws cutting through important wires. There was a disruption of the information flow and Omega's entire left arm went slack. Now completely defenceless E123 was at the mercy of Eggman's elite. A sharply blow with a kick from the robotic echidna sent Gamma flying upwards into space.

As there was no oxygen to produce a combustion reaction in space, Theta fired all his missiles at once; each one impacting hard on a different location. Omega's right leg was blown off.

Egg Robo raised his rifle and aimed it with assassin's accuracy towards Omega's head, preparing to fire a single shot that would crack E123's brain in half. Before it could fire, a bright white light sprung up out of nowhere; burning his optics and forcing him to turn his head away.

Dark Oak glanced up once his warp was complete and watched as a badly damaged Omega drifted past him. At his side was a semi-conscious Sonic and Metal Sonic. The hedgehog's fur was beginning to chance from gold back to royal blue. The former Metal X general gently touched the tip of his sword to the android as he floated past.

"One down…" He whispered, before he and everything else around him vanished back into the white light.

* * *

-

The security measures around the orbital gun control network were breeched and the Confederates Giants were storming over them. This worked to Shadow's advantage as he did not have to bypass them himself.

Noticing the red and black blur streaking towards them, the aliens formed themselves into a barricade formation and became a sheer wall of genetically engineering muscle. Shadow hit them head on without stopping. The effect was like a bowling pall hitting the pins. Ploughing through them, Shadow kept going; sliding across scared ground towards the buildings in the distance. The code the Commander had given him repeating itself over and over again inside his head.

"Get out of my way!" He shouted, flying past Badniks at such speeds the resulting shockwaves knocked them over.

The central command of the orbital guns was a large building on the outskirts of Westopalis, surrounded by thick layers of military defence with had been all but flattened by the bombardment from the ships in orbit; bombardment that was still going on when Shadow arrived.

Dodging through laser strikes as they coursed down from the sky and broke the ground into molten fragments, Shadow kept going. Any badniks or Confederate giants that got in the way of the blasts vanished instantly.

Any that got in 'his' way was sent flying backwards into hard physical objects. With little to no patience for this, Shadow tore through anything put in his path; speeding onward.

He could easily teleport there but he did not want to risk it. The Confederates technology ran on Chaos Energy and despite all the lose chaos energy from the distracting Chaos Emeralds, a Chaos Control warp would be like a lighthouse in the dark to them and attract their attention. If they figured out he was trying to reactivate the guns they would direct all their strikes here.

The charred remains of a G.U.N mech were lying across the main entrance of the building barring the way inside. Hardly containing the patience for removing it himself, Shadow simply gathered energy inside his closed fist and smashed through the wall.

Within the confines of the facility, military soldiers were still putting up a fight against the badniks; barricading themselves in defendable positions in the corridor and riddling the machines with holes as they tried to press on.

Coming at them from behind, Shadow tore through Eggman's robots and sent them crashing down to the floor. Blasting past the startled soldiers; the black and red hedgehog continued on further and further into the base's interior.

The orbital gun control centre was under complete lockdown, five inch thick blast doors shutting off each corridor. The aliens were trying to force their way through them by repeatedly bombarding the barriers with laser strikes from their strange looking hand held weaponry.

Shadow came up behind one of them and rendering the being unconscious with a swift blow to the back of the head. As it fell, Shadow snatched the weapon out of its hand and before the other three could react the hedgehog blasted them all at point blank range. They fell back against the floor, some slamming against the walls before falling.

They had nearly broken through the door, but Shadow could see through the scorched hole they had been carving; that there were many more beyond it.

He could not afford to waste time like this. He tossed the weapon aside before holding up both free hands; crossing the arms in front of himself. There was a sudden whooshing sound and the outline of his gloves began to glow blood red.

"Chaos…" Shadow began and the air around him began to ripple. "Blast!" Throwing a fist forward, he broke the door down within a single moment. But he didn't stop there.

He flew on past the door even before it had finished falling apart and struck the one behind it, and when that fell he went on to the next one; and so on; plunging through the lockdown doors one after the other. Any G.U.N robots that had been lying in wait for the intruders were thrown back by the shockwave and were smashed to pieces against whatever they collided into.

"Shadow…" A deep voice from out of the ether whispered to him. Coming to a halt, the black and red hedgehog instinctively adopted a fighting stance; hands held high and arched ready to battle. "Come now, there is no need to stand on ceremony with me." Shadow's eyes darted from left to right in the corridor, trying to see who was talking; but he could see no one. "We have matters to discuss."

"Who are you…?" Shadow began, realizing that someone was talking directly into his head. He knew of telepathy from his encounters with Void. "Just how do you know my name?" A low chuckle escaped his invisible conversationalist.

"So you have forgotten me… in retrospect I'm not all that surprised." Shadow just hissed in annoyance and carried on towards the last lock down door, deciding to ignore the voice. He had more important things to do right now.

"I don't have time for this nonsense." Shadow replied, kicking the door down and advancing inside the orbital gun control centre. The control centre itself was a large round room full of computer terminals with a large main screen at the front. It was abandoned. Those manning the guns had fled when control of the systems had been taken from them by Doctor Eggman's computer virus. It must have left in a hurry as chairs at the terminal stations had been knocked over, papers spilt onto the floor and there was a crumbled Zeus robot lying on the floor; battle scars across its left hand side.

"This is not nonsense Shadow." The voice persisted. Shadow somersaulted over to what appeared to be the main terminal and quickly started it up. Before he could do anything else however, a translucent shape rose out of the floor beneath him. Quickly he backed off as the ghost like image slid up; a pair of curved orange eyes glaring at him with a larger third directly above it.

The image was of a creature like no other. A pair of horns the length of a man's arm ran out straight outside both sides of the head, a horn of small spikes running along the top.

The being had no legs, only wide arms with cloven hands on each end. If it had a torso it was hidden under a long flowing dark robe. The shoulder pads and cuffs were gold with a chain the same colour wrapped around its neck and over each shoulder. The end of each chain had a silver pendant attached to it, fashioned into a jagged broach with a green jewel directly in the centre. "This is our pact. Our agreement; the contract we all signed." Shadow said nothing, but watched as the ghostly image passed by him to his side. "There is a debt to be repaid; chosen one." This time the words came directly from the ghostly image rather than from an echo of telepathy.

"Debt?" He repeated. "What debt?"

"The price you owe for your very existence." The being replied, that large third eye glaring at him; a silted pupil in the middle contracted to an almost perfect vertical line. "Come now chosen one; do not tell me **_all_** memory of our agreement has been whitewashed from your brain?" Shadow met him with an empty stare. "Oh well that is most disappointing. These astral-projected forms are hard to maintain, especially across dimensions. I would hate to think I went to the trouble for nothing."

"Look." Shadow began finally loosing patience. "I don't know who you think you are, but I've got a job to do here." He turned and ran his hands across the console, entering the command code the Commander had given him. Eggman's computer virus had already penetrated deep into the system mainframe. Before anything could be done to reactive the orbital guns then the virus itself had to be wiped out.

"Is this how you've been spending your time?" The visage asked. "Helping those pathetic humans?" Shadow ignored him and carried on. "That is a pointless and idiotic endeavour. Those lumps of barely sentient flesh don't deserve your assistance."

"I help them because I choose to." Shadow replied, his hands a blur of the keyboard as he typed; eradicated the virus as he went; one by one the system relented control of its various functions back to him. "Because it's what I was created to do." Even in his mouth the words tasted bitter.

"That can not be further from the truth and you know it." The being replied with a hint of annoyance in its voice as it spoke. "You exist to perform many functions, but mankind's messiah is not one of them.

More accurately it could be stated you are a herald of change, of the destruction of the old and the coming of the new." Shadow continued typing without saying a word. "That was what your creators had in mind when you were conceived and why the very humans who expend so much energy on helping, hated you so intently. And why they tried to destroy you." The hedgehog's hands froze above the keyboard. "Oh yes I know all about that." The ghostly image continued. "In fact, I know more about it than you do."

"Just who are you?" Shadow demanded, snapping around.

"I have been given many titles by the lesser;" Was the reply. "But the one I go by myself is Black Doom." His hand outstretched towards him. "Your side of the debt may be unfulfilled for the moment but I can help you pay it. Give you back 'ALL' of your memories, remind you of the contract." His two fingers clicked against each other and Black Doom offered his hand towards the hedgehog. "Piece together your shattered mind and make you whole. All you have to do is take my hand and forget about this insignificant planet." Shadow stared at the hand for a moment, before glancing up at the face of the strange creature. His face was unreadable; but tightened emotion was building behind his eyes; burning like fire.

"Freeze!" Someone shouted. Shadow glanced to the side to see several G.U.N soldiers had broken through the doors he had wrenched open and one of them was holding a shoulder balanced projectile weapons capable of launching rockets. "Step away from the controls!"

"Relax buddy I'm helping you guys out." The hedgehog replied, noticing that Black Doom had dulled his projection so much that he was now completely invisible.

"I said back off ya mobian freak!" Their guns were raised and pointed directly at you.

"You see how they foolishly brandish those toys?" Black Doom asked silently; the question seeping into his mind. "When overcome by greed, they'll commit unspeakable acts of evil. When overcome by fear they'll point their puny little weapons at each other and their allies and start pointlessly fighting. Why do you defend such a pathetically weak minded species?" Shadow growled trying to ignore him and reached for the controls. A shot rang out, the bullet bouncing off the metal of the panel and the hedgehog drew his arm back.

"Last chance, get down on the floor or you're dead!"

"I don't have time for this!" Shadow snarled and turned to face the computer. Without a word the solider with the rocket projectile fired one directly at him. Shadow glanced up in time to see it barely a foot away from his face. Lashing out instinctively with a Chaos Spear, he deflected the projectile completely about and it coursed back towards its point of origin.

There was an explosion and the solider disappeared, a scream suddenly silence.

"You…you killed him…" One of his comrades shuttered as they stared at the charred fragments on the floor. "You bastard, you killed him!" Shadow just stood there with a horrified expression on his face. He hadn't meant to, he was only trying to deflect that attack away. It hadn't meant to spend the rocket right back. Shadow had destroyed robots and military hardware before, even threatened to destroy a planet; but not once had he actually gone through with killing another living being.

"Why grieve for him Shadow?" Black Doom asked. "It's a fundamental law of survival; to kill those who try to kill you." Shadow just stood there in stunned terror.

"No…I….I didn't…"

"Yes you did, you took a life. But it was self defence, that is how the world; nay, the universe itself works. Take life to enjoy life."

"I… I'm not…"

"Deny it all you want, but the fact remains."

Without another word and with the beginnings of tears in his eyes, Shadow swung his arm back and slammed it down on the button behind him. The purging of the virus completed itself and one by one all over the world, the orbital guns switched themselves back on. Before the Confederate ships knew what was happening, the barrage from the planet came charging up at them. Dozens of their vessels exploded in an instant, others damaged badly as they tried to get away; giant fragments torn from their underside as they desperately made a scramble for a higher altitude.

The defenders began cheering at the sight of the thousands of guns all over Canada firing upwards together. Finally the relentless laser barrage from the skies above stopped and with renewed zeal themselves the soldiers charged into the invaders front lines.

Black Doom looked for a moment unimpressed by Shadow's decision, before he blinked all three eyes at once and turned away.

"Those actions were meaningless. Even with those defences up, the humans will not win this battle." Shadow did not reply, he simply stood there holding his balance on the panel. "You have much to learn hedgehog." Black Doom muttered, drifting back a few feet. There was a sudden loud blaring and the main monitor at the front of the room lit up; the word; 'WARNING' flashing in bright red. Then that disappeared and was replaced by a radar screen. There was an incoming alert; a hostile projectile had been detected and was heading for this facility. It was one of Eggman's high impact missiles, the kind he stored on the Egg Carrier as part of his flag ships arsenal. It was capable of destroying this entire building in an instant. "I'll give you a while to collect your thoughts and to come to your senses." Black Doom began, his form suddenly growing more and more transparent. "You will be hearing from me, soon." With that, he vanished completely, fading away to nothing as if he had never been there.

Shadow glanced up at the screen. Only ten seconds to impact, no time to escape with himself or those soldiers. He was going to have to risk a Chaos Control.

"Chaos…." He began holding a hand up high, his outline turning neon blue. The missiles suddenly accelerated with a burst of speed, cutting the ten second countdown in half; leaving the black and red hedgehog with five seconds. "CONTRO…" Even before he could finish the missile struck, fire coursing through the corridors burning anything that got in his back. It was only at the last second that Shadow managed to warp away before the control centre was consumed. But the inertia from the blast shook his entry into chaotic space and left him and the soldiers flying into the void with no sense of direction.

* * *

-

Unlike any other Mech before it, the Diablon fought hand to hand instead of with missiles and bullets. It's only projectile weapon was the laser beam generator attached to its head and the Commander was using that as sparingly as possible. The prototype wasn't exactly invincible. Each use of the laser drained his battery, making him less agile. The Aliens giants weren't very fast but their strength more than made up for their lack of speed.

Jericho was quick to realize the difference in skill between them and focused all his attacks on speed strikes, hitting them hard as fast, faster than the bulky giants could retaliate. The badniks of course threw a giant wrench into the works. They sat away from the battle, armed themselves with rifles and fired from a distance. Even their barrage couldn't hit the Diablon though.

This new machine was faster than anything currently on G.U.N's development table. Even the commander, who had overseen the development of the project since they dragged the first black arm ship out of the sea, was impressed by its sheer agility. "Commander; I have a transmission from the Giant Wing." The voice announced over the com system inside the cockpit.

"Put it through." Jericho replied, keeping his attention on the battle; throwing the Diablon's fist forward sending several giants tumbling backwards. The signal that followed was garbled and only parts of the sentence the commander could make out.

"Sir, we're taking heavy losses." It was the general he had placed in charge of Giant Wing and the entire fleet up in orbit. "The Egg Fleet was wiped out, but the Confederates are still advancing."

"Have you stopped them from launching an orbital bombardment?" Jericho asked, forcing the experimental Mech out of the way as a thick barrage from Eggman's machines shot his way.

"Someone managed to reactive the Ground to Orbit guns just in time." Was the thankful reply. Jericho scowled despite himself.

"Shadow…" He hissed.

"But the Confederates are still coming at us. Eggman's Flag ship is leading the charge. We're in bad shape sir. If they push through our lines now we won't be able to…" He stopped speaking.

"What is it?" The commander asked. There was no reply. "General?"

"Oh god no." Was the almost silent reply, before someone yelled out in utter fear and horror. The sound of dozens of screaming men shook the commander to the core before the line went dead with static. The blast from the Egg Carrier's main cannon struck the Giant Wing fortress head out, tearing the top half off in a tremendous light show that people could see from the planet's surface.

Dozens of G.U.N battleships were caught in the attack as well and were quickly reduced to pieces of scrap metal, sent rocketing up into the asteroid belt around the plane to be bashed to pieces; or to burn quietly in the atmosphere. What remained of Giant Wing began to drift back towards the planet, the fortress reduced to a floating pile of scrap. Uncountable numbers of escape pods began pouring out from various hatches and hanger bay doors.

With the fall of Giant Wing, the G.U.N fleet was finished. Whatever ships were left were in no shape to put up a decent fight. They turned to flee, heading back down towards the planet. Even as they did so, the Confederate ships line dup and fired one last intense barrage of laser fire after them.

In that single instant, over half the surviving ships were reduced to ash. Those that escaped were hit by the shockwave and left with a very uncomfortable spiral down towards the planet.

Most of them would crash into the surface.

The thick sneer on Eggman's face widened to sick proportions as the two armour covering for his cannon retracting back over the giant weapon, the charged particle gun inside still sparking with left over energy. Nothing Sonic or his friends could possibly do now would change the outcome of this day.

He had won.


	5. Episode 3, part 1

G.U.N was on the ropes. Giant Wing was finished and with their only defence line in space gone, whatever ships had survived the massacre were now making a desperate bid to escape, plunging towards the planet below. Most burnt up in the atmosphere, others were shot down by the volleys the Confederate ships shot after them. A few managed to make it, crash landing in various locations all over the globe.

The military had taken a severe blow and it was on its knees. The only piece of retaliation left came from the Blue Typhoon that despite G.U.N's retreat was still fighting.

"We'll issue a terms of surrender in a minute." The Doctor began, running his fingers through his moustache. "But first we have one last minor problem to deal with."

"And what might that be?" Baal asked, raising the fesonian equivalent of an eyebrow. Eggman didn't reply. He simply pressed another button on the end of his arm rest and fed an image through his communications link with the Admirals ship. It showed the Blue Typhoon, still continuing to fight near the floating remains of Giant Wing; blasting the Confederates orbital bombardment ships out of the stratosphere.

"Once this nugget of resistance is out of the way, we can focus our attention on the forces down on the planet's surface."

"Aren't you pinning too much importance on a single ship?" Baal asked, unsure of how that one vessel could change the outcome of a battle already won.

"Believe me, no I'm not." Eggman replied, narrowing his eyes. This was it, one last attack and he'd be rid of the biggest thorns in his side forever. "Decoe, Becoe; has the cannon recharged yet?" "Another two minutes doctor." Was the reply over the secondary communications link. "This new charged particle technology is different to the conventional laser generators. We're still too unfamiliar enough with it for continuous fire." Two minutes? Just two minutes?

In two minutes, Sonic had torn some of his greatest creations apart.

"Have it ready in one."

–

"We've lost contact with Giant Wing sir." The Commander already knew what had happened.

The inevitability of this moment seemed like weight that had dropped from a great height onto his shoulders.

The second Diablon had taken damage. The armour was riddled with bullet holes from the badniks barrage and the arms had been bent and damaged in clashes with the Alien Giants. His laser beam generator had overheated and shorted out. The only weapon he had left was the charged particle blast and even the accelerator for that had been compromised in battle. The invaders were not without wounded thankfully and that was something Jericho took to heart. Their corpses littered the battlefield, lying there lifeless around him in mountainous heaps.

Anger flowing through him he smashed a metal fist into a Confederate giant, tearing out its heart before smashing its body against the ground, the skin erupting in a spray of blood.

Two other giants tackled the mech from behind, grabbing hold of the arm and twisting. Metal broke off, but this action freed the arm. It whipped around with tremendous force breaking their necks before talking hold of their bodies and using them as clubs to smash away any other aliens that came close.

One of the Giants picked up one of their hand held weapons, a jagged purple sword and while the machine was fighting, tossed it through the air. It hit the Diablon and sank into the shoulder. The machine flew backwards, before sinking its fingers into the ground and using them as an anchor to slow down.

Once it came to a stop, it tore the sword out and crushed it between its fingers. The damage however had already been done.

Jericho was physically exhausted and on the point of collapse. Sweat ran down the side of his face, his mouth half open with long drawn out breaths. A hand was clutched over his heart; the finger arched against the flesh. It was pounding away so hard in his chest he was afraid it might rupture at any moment. He was coming dangerously close to a heart attack. The Diablon was a machine that was not to be piloted other than those who understood its needs.

The Black Arm technology was part organic and to achieve the Mech's full potential, the pilot had to be willing to be pushed to his fullest physical limits. The prototype had had the same problem and even with some of the bugs worked out; this new unit was still taxing the pilot.

"Commander?" The voice over the com asked, waiting for his response. Jericho kept his gaze locked on the aliens. They were reinforcing their numbers with badniks and their standard troops. There were over dozens of them now and more were coming by the second, far more than he could ever hope to stop. The G.U.N stronghold was going to fall. It was their last line of defence.

"Put me on loud speaker to every remaining military station." He announced.

"Yes sir." There was a brief pause and sudden the com link clicked. "There you go commander."  
"Thank you." The command hug his head low for a moment, took a few breaths, before looking up. He knew he was speaking to the entire G.U.N military, or what was left of it. This was a farewell speech. "Our Fleet in orbit has been devastated and our defences breeched." He announced. He saw no point in sugar coating his message at this precise moment. "Fighting on open ground is no longer an option. This will be my last order as commander of the Federation." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "I am ordering all combat capable divisions to withdraw. Cover your tracks and do your best to elude enemy detection and survive.

Ensure the safety of as many civilians as you possibly can. We thought a battle and we lost. It's nothing to be ashamed off, remember that." All over the world, the remaining G.U.N bases watched and listened. Every solider, scientist and officer, fanatically loyal to their commander and chief, realized that this was the end of their short-lived G.U.N Federation. "I'm still proud and honoured to have fought alongside such a great and inspirational people, to have protected a world so beautiful." Through his memory ran the image he had allowed him to retain, the only memory from his time on the ARK that didn't cause him pain. The earth had looked so beautiful from space.

As a small boy he stood on the colonies observation deck, simply staring at it in quiet awe. A soft hand laid itself on his shoulder and glancing up he saw a girl like flowing blonde hair, her smile filling him with warmth.

The commander raised his head, showing a thick almost insane grin over his face; his multi coloured eyes alight with emotion.

"Oh and one last thing." He handed, both hands clamping themselves down on the control pads. "If these guys want our planet so bad then they can have it, but the least we can do is make sure that keeping hold of it isn't going to be as easy as they think!"

The badniks had arranged themselves in a firing squad formation and were preparing their long range weapons for an intense barrage intended to finish off the Diablon.

The aliens were waiting for the opportunity, once the danger was removed, to march in and claim the territory for themselves. "Right you scum!" Jericho snarled, the Diablon charging forward ignoring the deep metallic gorges in its armour and the fact its energy core was reaching critical mass. "Make yourselves at home!" The entire G.U.N military watched as their commander charged at the enemy, banner held high.

The badniks opened fire as one; a horribly intense barrage of bullets struck the mech head one carving huge wounds in its armour. One of its arms was torn off by the projectiles, the chest plate riddled with holes. The Diablon kept going, the commander pouring on the speed.

At the last second, he slammed his hand down on the eject button. The cockpit was instantly coated in a thick organic membrane and then ejected, a flap on the back of the mech opening up, throwing the ball into the air with the commander inside.

The mech carried on, charging forward on the last set commands Jericho had given it. Out of the many holes in its armour, shafts of blue light lanced up; cracks spreading over the metallic skin. The machine was barley meters away from the invader lines when the charged particle accelerator for the charged particle blast overloaded, burning out and throwing the weapon into intense overdrive. Its energy core erupted and the culminating energies ignited.

With an explosion that shook the ground like a neutron bomb, the entire Diablon exploded. The shockwave hit first, followed by a thick wall of charged particles. Both the aliens and the bandiks were ripped apart molecule by molecule, the light spreading out in a wide circle destroying everything that got in its way.

That would not stop their advance, but it would slow them down to give the stronghold personnel enough time to evacuate. Jericho's escape pod was still flying high into the air. There were no controls as such. It was designed simply to cushion a rough landing, breaking apart only to let the occupant out. Judging by the trajectory and the speed he was travelling at it was going to be quite some time before he landed.

"Eggman you've made a serious mistake in siding with these guys." He muttered, slumping back against the side of the capsule heavily out of breath. "Sooner of later you're going to realise that yourself; but by then it's going to be far too late."

-

With no bullets, no missiles, no fuel and hardly any propulsion at all the Yeager Mech was left drifting through space in the general direction of the Blue Typhoon. Vector had burnt up whatever fuel he had left just to get them back to the ship. Their air would last until they got there, but until then both he and Charmy were left using whatever they could to try and dodge the thick streams of lasers from the Confederates ships as they fired after the fleeing G.U.N ships.

"Vector, I don't like this anymore." Charmy told him. "Can't we go home?"

"Love to kid, but we're kinda stuck here right now." Vector replied, testing the controls and finding them dead. Either the electrical power to them was gone or so much damage had been dealt to the mech that they had nothing to control anymore.

"Er… Er Vector…" Charmy began. "We've got a little problem!" The crocodile followed his gaze to see a Confederate ship coming right at them.

"Crap!" He cursed out load forgetting he had a minor with him. The struggled to find some controls that worked, but they were all dead. There was nothing he could do accept sit there and watch it come right at them.

Without warning, an intensely bright flash of white light erupted in front of them. "What in the name of?" Vector began. Forced to look away, either of them saw Dark Oak as he soured out of his teleportation with Sonic, Metal Sonic, Espio, Omega and Rei in tow.

"Next on the list." He stated, laying the tip of his sword against the side of the mech. The light erupted again and then all of them were gone as if they had never been there.

Rouge and Amy had been using Chuck's portable force field generator to fight during the battle. The custom fitting field keeping the vacuum of space from killing them but at the same time allowing them free range of movement. Although a lot of good it did them in the end. No matter how many of Eggman's or the Confederate ships they tore to pieces dozens more had taken their place.

The hammer in Amy's grasp had been dented in places scraped along the flat edge. Rouge's own attacks were beginning to slacken as well. Her legs were almost numb from all the kicks she had dealt to the ships and flying robots. When she touched down on the surface of a shattered G.U.N ship her legs weren't able to support her weight. The only thing that kept her from collapsing was the low gravity this far up.

"Come on, we've got to keep going." The bat stated between breaths. The fact that G.U.N was giving up did not give them the right to. There were still far too many Confederate ships for them to take down before they could even think about resting; but damn it there were just so many of them!

"Sorry Rouge," Amy began. She had been using her hammer to prop herself up but she was slipping. "I'm too tired."

"Then you won't offer me much resistance." Amy didn't even know that was happening until something laid the flat edge of a sword blade against her shoulder. Rouge swung around in response ready to fight but froze at the fight that met her.

"Dark Oak!" She managed to exclaim before a metal hand clamped over her mouth. In the next instant, both she and Amy were gone.

Okida was still going strong and despite the G.U.N ships in retreat, he kept on fighting. His mech had been badly damaged and he was running out of ammunition. All of this meant very little to him; nothing was going to stop him now.

"No… no not now." He muttered, finding his strength beginning to wane and fade. His body was too tired to keep going but his spirit was still raging like a bush fire. Angrily he slapped him across the face and the tingling pain helped him to focus past the grogginess. "Get back in there and fight you weakling!" He yelled at him, throwing the controls forward and the Albatross mech rocketed onwards.

The Confederate ships had obviously seen his approach as their rear guard about faced and came flying towards him, thick streams of laser fire shooting off from the turrets at the front of the vessels. The Albatross did a continual 360 degree spin, flying through the deadly barrage. Passing by the first two ships, Okida fired missiles at point blank range straight into them. Their fronts were engulfed in flames for a brief moment before the chain reaction passed down through their entire length ripping them apart from inside.

The ships behind them fired and scored a direct hit along the Mech's left hand side, tearing one of the thrusters under its wing off in a spray of molten metal. The console before the major sparked wildly before parts of it began exploding, the metallic fragments flying off; several large shards slamming through Okida's clothes and embedding themselves in his side. He cried out and slumped against the arm rest, blood quickly staining his coat.

"Crap!" He cursed into the air, holding his side with one hand and forcing the Albatross mech on with the other. How could he have let them hit him? The ships continued their assault, striking the now crippled mech a dozen times along the bow. There was a sickening loud crunch and the other wing thrusters broke off, exploding barely a few feet away sending the Albatross spiralling out of control. "You loser, how could you let this happen!" He demanded of himself, taking hold of the controls and ignoring the ragged metal shards in his side.

The words 'Damage Assessment Severe' appeared on a screen, followed by; Critical Engine Failure in Ten Seconds. With nothing to power the machine of even steer it with, Okida found himself flying straight into the Confederate ships line of fire. He closed his eyes, silently cursing himself for a complete lack of skill.

A moment later, a white haze engulfed him and the Albatross mech vanished, the Confederate barrage flying through empty space.

By now, Dark Oak had collected all that he required from the battle field. Personally, for all the trouble they had given him; all he wanted to do was either let them perish in the vacuum of space of be blown to pieces by their enemies. Unfortunately he was forced to admit that his new ally was correct. The people he had under his wings were far too important for the future to be allowed to die.

Irreplaceable instruments that they; no, 'he himself', needed. At least he certainly hoped so.

"You people had best be worth it." He grumbled.

"Doctor Eggman." Becoe called up. "We've traced the Chaos Control warp, Sonic's teleported back to the Blue Typhoon." Eggman felt his mouth going dry with anticipation when he heard that. That imbecile had played directly into his hands.

"Is the cannon finished recharging yet?" he asked.

"Almost Doctor." Decoe replied. "Beginning firing procedures now." A holographic screen flashed up before Eggman showing their intended target, the Blue Typhoon. A crosshair moved across the screen until it was centred directly over the white ship itself. "Energy cells now at one hundred percent. Charged particle intact complete, final safety checks disengaged; preparing to fire main cannon."

"While it pains me to destroy such a remarkable piece of engineering, a project I am quite proud of…" Eggman began drumming his fingers. "…it's decommission will serve as my final victory over this world and the start of my rule as regent."

The cannon doors at the front of the massive Egg Carrier began to pull aside to reveal the newly reconstructed cannon within, no longer a copy of the Eclipse Cannon but rather a charged particle weapon; which was far more deadly. The needle within was glowing neon blue and particles were beginning to filter in through vents located within the cannon itself. Eggman had been inspired to create this weapon by observing how the Ragnarok dragon had fired its own destructive force.

"Eggman's targeted us!" Chris called up.

"He's not really going to fire is he?" Topaz asked but even as they came out of her mouth the words sounded stupid. "Right, of course he is."

"The Egg-shield won't take a direct hit like that." Chuck stated. "If he hits us with that thing we'll be blown to pieces."

"Engines one and two are failing." Chris added in. "And the conduit connections to the Master Emerald are beginning to burn out. They'll disintegrate at this rate!"

A violent flash of white erupted out of the bridge and tumbling out of it came Sonic, landing with a loud thud on the floor. Metal Sonic came next, spiralling out to land almost lifelessly against the wall. Amy and Rouge came next, followed by Chaotix and Okida. The mechs they had been piloting came out of a similar warp and crashed into the Blue Typhoon's hanger bay shaking the entire ship, most of them already of fire before they arrived.

Finally, with the warp behind him closing; Dark Oak emerged.

He ignored the stunned faces around and glanced down at the red stone in his hands. It had shattered into thousands of pieces, now completely useless. He had used it to much to teleport himself across the battlefield to pick up the various targets and the ancient transportation relic could not take the strain, not after being inactive for so long anyway. Shame really, it had been quite useful and his ally could not acquire another.

"Dark Oak!" A voice shouted. Metal Sonic was on his feet, his claws raised to face his former general. "Mark my words, you will pay you traitor."

"I am not a traitor." Dark Oak replied. "I was never on your side to begin with so I could not betray you." He turned to face him completely. "More accurately stated, you could say I was a double agent. Oh and... don't call me Dark Oak. It's not my real name."

"Then what name do I carve above your epitaph?"

"I'll let you know when I remember it myself." The former Metal X general stated, his hand clenching around the hilt of his sword. "As for the name on my tombstone, your 'unappreciated saviour' will do very nicely."

"What?"

The general glanced up to see the star burning in the distance increase in size. Eggman's Carrier cannon was dangerously close to firing point. The use of Chaos energy was going to burn his body as he had spent far too long in Nexus, but he would endure.

"Your world has fallen." He announced, turning to the crew of the Blue Typhoon; his single green eye glaring at them all at once. "Although it would give me much pleasure to see you fall with it, I'm afraid that would prove most inconvenient for a new friend of mine." He raised his curved scimitar sword into the air, all seven Chaos Emerald twirling around the blade in a tight circle. "As such, I'm sending you away from this place to fight elsewhere. They're waiting for you and its best not to keep them in suspense. The Titans don't like to be teased." Metal Sonic picked himself up in an instant and made a lunge for his general, arms and talons spread out ready for a swipe. All seven emeralds sparked for that single instant and glowed their respected colours. "CHAOS…"

"Impossible…" Metal Sonic began but by then he was too late for anyone to hear him.

"CONTROL!" For an instant, sound disappeared from the entire universe. A single point of light erupted outwards at an alarming fast rate, consuming everything it crossed. Within half a second the entire ship was swallowed up and even then it carried on, dragging the shattered fragments of ships into it. Even the colossal ruins of Giant Wing was sucked in. But nobody noticed, for the next instant; the blast from the Egg Carrier rocketed down and struck. The culminated light could be seen from both Mars and Earth. For all, it looked as if the Blue Typhoon had been destroyed.

"Chris!" Lindsey cried out watching at the light faded. Tears quickly filled her eyes and finding her gone in an instant, collapsed to her knees. Nelson just stood there, the shock still masking his face.

Francis and Danny said nothing, but Helen cried out in utter despair; collapsed onto the side of her wheelchair.

"No…" Mr. Stuart whispered in disbelief. The camera dropped from Scarlet Garcia's hands and she stood there unable to believe what she had just filmed.

"YESSS!" Eggman cried, thrusting a fist into the air and jumping up from his chair. His glasses flew from his nose did a flip in the air before landing perfectly back in place. "Yes yes yes! They're finally GONE!" He began doing cheerleader movements to spell out his name. "Give me an E! G! G! M! A! N! Who rules! EGGMAN!"

At last, after so long; Sonic and every other source of interference had finally been eliminated. This moment was so beautiful it literally brought tears to the Doctors eyes. Unable to contain himself he collapsed into his chair and quietly sobbed with happiness.

Earth was his at last.

"Doctor, the G.U.N ships are retreating." Becoe announced but Eggman was too far into his own happy little world to hear him. "Doctor, are you there?" By now Eggman had past by cloud nine and drifted in a universe of bliss. As far as he was concerned he was skipping like a small girl through a field of wildflowers without a care in the world.

"Best not bother him right now." Decoe whispered to his metallic comrade. "Just send in the troops."

Held in reserve as part of operation job loss, dozens of ships headed out from the Egg Moon and started towards the Earth. With nothing to stop them the penetrated the atmosphere within minutes and began their descent over the now crumbled military defences. Separating and going their separate ways, each ship spread out over the globe and once they past over major cities they released their cargo.

Thousands of automated Mechs dropped down to land in the middle of streets, parking lots and even onto of buildings. They were all Dreadnaught robots, cheap in terms of resources and easy to produce on a production line. They met up with whatever badniks were left on the surface and formed a large army.

G.U.N was in no fit state to fight back.

The mechs met little resistance as they took over city after city, the entire united states firmly within their grasp within only a few short hours. One by one a red light lit up on the strategy map within the Egg Carrier, each one showing a location confirmed at being under control. The entire American continent was red and now the lights were turning on over Europe and Russia.

Most of the populace had fled from the major metropolitan areas but those they could find were quickly rounded up and herded into camps in central squares in the cities. Any military troops that retaliated were squashed and all others sent fleeing into the relative safety of the countryside.

Doctor Eggman watched in glee. By now over seventy percent of the entire world's surface was confirmed in his control.

"At last, my dream." He sighed in blissful happiness. The Eggman Empire was finally a reality and his ideal of a utopia could be created.

"Doctor." A voice began and a holographic image appeared of Admiral Baal. "We confirm that your troops are claiming territory on the planets surface. Do remember however that fifty percent of this world's population are to be claimed by the empire." Eggman's smile lessened a little.

"Yes, yes of course that was the deal wasn't it?" He asked in reply, his chair rotating around to look directly at the alien commander. "Which half would you like, those in the north or those in the south?"

"The Coordinator will decide that." Baal stated crossing his arms. "He will be contacting you shortly." Eggman blinked in surprise.

"The Doom's Eye?" He asked. "I didn't know he took an interest in individual conquests."

"During conquests the coordinator is omnipresent." Baal said narrowing his eyes. "I have been in direct contact with him for the duration of the battle. He has informed me that he wishes to speak with you. He will contact your ship within one of your hours."


	6. Episode 3, part 2

Dark Oak dumped all seven Chaos Emeralds down before him, dropping them like rocks before he collapsed to his knees; smoke rising from between the cracks in his armour. His arms convulsed before him, shaking so much that the metal armour was starting to shake off.

While transportation through space and time was not a concept alien to his kind, using Chaos energy was. He and most of this brood had spent far too long inside Nexus and their bodies had mutated for the different laws inside that realm. As such, their systems just could not accept prolonged exposure to Chaos energy.

"Pull yourself together." A voice stated as a shadow fell over his body.

"That may be easy for you to say." The former general stated, managing to call up enough will power to still his hands. "I can still feel the energy burning through me; it scolds like white hot fire and lingers." That smoke still rising from his body was evidence enough to that.

"I thought you could handle a little pain." The other replied, folding his arms. "You are a Titan after all."

"Titans do not feel pain." Dark Oak said angrily, hoisting himself back up; his legs unsteady. "They endure it, but they do not feel it." His friend glanced down at the floor and the seven Chaos Emeralds scattered around their feet.

"It's been some time since I laid eyes on these." He bent down and picked the red one up in a furry orange hand, the remains of a torn white glove still hanging on. "We will have to take them beyond Black Doom's sight and soon. They will stand out like beacons to those in Nexus unless we get them to safety."

"Of course." Dark Oak replied, cleaning his re-forged sword on his cape. The smoke had stopped rising from him now but his movements still seemed slow and sluggish.

"What of Earth?" The question seemed to sneak out as was not intended to be asked. Dark Oak was silent, before shaking his head and turning away. "I knew what the answer was…"

"Then why ask?"

"Because I had to be sure." The silence endured for a moment. "And the others?"

"I delivered them safely away from the Confederates' attack fleet just like you asked." Dark Oak replied. "I could not find Shadow though."

"Sonic is the important one."

"It thought it was Nazo we needed?"

"Nazo is a simple composite of Sonic and Shadow and ceased to exist after the battle with Krish. We need the foretold Archon."

"And you are utterly confident that prophecy refers to Sonic?" His friend smiled grimly.

"Can you think of anyone else it could?" Dark Oak gave an unimpressed grunt.

"The others will not stand idly by and let him assume that role, they have far too much to loose." The general paused and then held a hand to his head as if suffering from a massive headache.

"The others?" His friend asked. "Your memory is returning?" Dark Oak did not reply. He simply stood there with his head angled down.

"The others…yes I remember them now…. Loyal servants of their king."

"How many?"

"At first there were twelve of us, but… but their names I can't remember. I don't even recall faces; just that there were twelve of us." He paused and looked down at his metallic hand, the armour that concealed his true form. "I was one of them, so was Krish."

"The Destroyer?" He friend sounded a little puzzled; then chuckled lightly. "Of course, what would you call him if not a Titan?"

"Ten are still left." Dark Oak continued. He slumped his shoulders. "But only seven of them are with their king, there are two missing from their prison. They did not fight in the war but still bear the name; Titan."

"Well, seven is enough." His friend replied with a sigh. "And with Black Doom then that makes a grand total of eight to contend with. All the more reason to get these Emeralds to safety until we can hand them over to Sonic."

"Sonic had them to begin with." Dark Oak pointed out. "If you needed him to have them anyway why did you ask me to steal them?" His friend shook his head.

"It wasn't time yet. He must have the Emeralds only when the moment is right. Any sooner and we would have brought the wrath of the Titans down on top of him."

* * *

-

The initial inertia began to wear off and Sonic pried his eyes open. His vision was blurred at first and blinking several times to clear it, the hedgehog groggily pulled himself up.

"Anyone get the number of that dump truck?" He asked, rubbing the back off his head as he sat on his knees. Chris was slumped in a chair unconscious, Chuck just the same on the floor beside him. Topaz in the captain's chair was also out of it. Amy was leaning against the wall nearby next to Rouge. Chaotix and Okida were all in the same boat, lying knocked out on the floor. Metal Sonic was already standing upright with his back to the hedgehog. The scorched remains of his red cape hung from his shoulders and both metallic fists were clenched at his side. "What happened?" Sonic asked sliding up to one knee. At first Metal Sonic did not respond, then after a moment his head turned to look back over his shoulder. With intense amounts of venom in his voice, the robotic hedgehog muttered…

"Dark Oak." Hearing those who words brought back all recent memory and the hedgehog remembered everything. The lost battle, the return of Dark Oak and then the dazzling flash of light. Sonic somersaulted back to his feet.

"How? We killed him; me, you and Shadow killed him… didn't we?" They had been there; they had been the ones to deal the death blow. They struck down his hydra form and he collapsed into dust. They had all seen it happen.

"Being a creature from Nexus, we know little about his species." Metal Sonic replied with spite. "Because of this lack of information he may have found a way to deceive us into thinking he was dead." Sonic blinked in mute surprise.

"How'd you figure that out?"

"I've had time to think." The robotic hedgehog said.

"Time to think?" Sonic repeated suddenly looking panic stricken. "How long have I been out of it?" Metal Sonic turned to face him completely.

"You've all been unconscious for three hours." Hearing that, Sonic glanced around to see his friends and comrades lying unconscious around him, falling where Dark Oak's Chaos control had hit them.

"Amy, wake up!" He tried to rise the pink hedgehog but she didn't move. He shook her shoulders. "Come on, snap out of it." He slapped her gently across the cheek several times. Her eyes gently opened and for a moment she lay there half awake. Suddenly the sight of Dark Oak flooded back into her memory and acting on instinct, she grabbed her hammer and swung it around in an arch. The blunt end slammed right into Sonic's face and he was sent flying backwards.

The hedgehog rolled on the floor holding his bleeding nose, cursing into his hands.

"Oh my god!" Amy began realizing what she had done.

"If you're all done playing the clown..." Metal Sonic muttered contemptuously folding his arms. "…we have more important things to attend to than comic style antics." Sonic opened an eye, tears forming in them; blood trickling out through his fingers.

"Such as?" He asked with his voice muffled. Metal Sonic gestured with a toss of his head towards the curved window surrounding the bridge. Sonic looked out and saw nothing but a sea of stars with pieces of floating metallic debris. This looked no different from how they had left it. At least the fighting had stopped. No more thick streams of laser or barrages of missiles were passing by. "Wait…the fight... is it over?"

"For us it is." Metal Sonic stated ominously glancing down at his feet. "Look at the stars."

"Sorry, astrology's not my thing." The hedgehog replied with a shrug, wiping the end of his nose.

"Hey wait…" Amy began; a look of plain confusion on her face. "I don't recognise any of the star signs."

"Star what?" Sonic asked.

"The constellations, Cancer, Ares or Leo." Amy told him. "I can't see any of them." Sonic took another look and now he saw that all the stars seemed to be in the wrong places. He knew a few star signs and he couldn't see any of them. "What happened, they can't have vanished.

"They didn't vanish." The robotic hedgehog said in reply. "We did."

"Want to run that by us again?" Sonic asked with his ears drooping a little.

"We have moved from our original position in space, to a point where we can no long see the stars that make up the constellations." Metal Sonic unfolded his arms and jabbed a metal talon towards the blinking lights in the dark. "That is why the patterns are foreign to us. But for that to have happened, we would have had to have moved an incredible distance."

"What kind of distance?" Sonic asked pretty sure of the answer already.

"At least a good two billion light years." Amy replied looked distraught. "We've been thrown clear out of our solar system."

By the time everyone had woken up the situation had become very clear. The ship was no longer around the planet it had been a while ago, in fact it was no longer in the solar system they had left it in. None of the star patterns around them matched any they were familiar with. There wasn't a sign of a nearby sun or planet anywhere within any of their sensor ranges.

"Damage reports are coming from all sections." Chuck reported, rubbing the back of his sore head. "The conduits from the Master Emerald to the Engine have burnt out, we have damaged the thrusters and the backup chaos energy generator is not responding. The controls are dead"

"Weapons?" Topaz asked.

"Dead."

"Shields?"

"Dead."

"Propulsion." She asked. Chuck growled and smacked his hands down on the console, nothing he touched responded.

"Deader than an extinct species. We got nothing, we're completely marooned." Aside from various damage inflicted by the barrage of the Confederate Fleet, the dramatic energy need produced by maintaining the shield had caused much internal damage. All that seemed to work was minimal light, heating and life support. Everything else was completely unresponsive.

"Do we know where we are?" Topaz asked.

"With our present understanding of the universe? Nope a chance a hell." Hare replied still groggy. "All we know some of the planets in the solar system, beyond that on the map is just a big blank space."

"Alright, let see if I've summed this up." Sonic began. "We have no idea where we are or how we got here, we have no power, no weapons and no defences?"

"I hate Mondays." Hare muttered into his hands.

"I'm afraid it gets worse." Chris began slowly, his eyes set forward and face adorn with slowly spreading shock. "I just checked the communications records."

"At least those are working."

"I wish they weren't." The boy replied. "Before we left, we picked up this transmission;" Without another word he pressed the button in front of him. Instantly the speakers buzzed with static as an audio message, the last one received, began to play back.

The voice of the Commander began to play back his last message to his troops on Earth. They stood there in silence and listened as the military folded and the message ended when Jericho's mech exploded and the signal was lost.

"G.U.N surrendered?" Rouge began with wide eyes. Silence gripped and all of them were left standing there in its grasp.

"Then all that training and preparation was for nothing." Sonic began to mutter, his fists clenching at his side. Frustrations building up and a sense of betrayal so power he could barely contain it bubbling to a peek inside. "It was all for nothing."

* * *

--

The burning flag with G.U.N's symbol on it was pull down from the top of the pole and the icon of the Confederate Empire, a round circle with a star in the centre, was hoisted up into his place. The burnt remains of Mech's lay scattered around, smoke still rising from the horrific wounds carved in their armour. Military ships lay where they'd crashed, their hulls broken open. Those lancing out of the ocean had bodies floating around them.

"Attention, civilians of planet Earth." Screens all over the world lit up and the wide, moustached face of Doctor Eggman appeared the smirk on his face so wide it could have spilt his face in half. "You may have noticed a change of Government recently." All over the entire globe the Confederate Fesonians were setting up their positions, rounding up the people to stand before the main media screens in town centres; forcing them to watch the announcement. Overhead, their ships patrolled the skies in great numbers casting shadows over the ground. "Well that's my doing. Your military has been defeated and your planet is now in the hands of the Confederate Empire.

I will be ruling as regent from now on." Anyone who tried to protest would be thrown down to the ground by the Confederate soldiers and the others forced to stand still at laser gun point.

Nelson and Lindsey were in the crowds. Nelson was holding his wife close as she continued to cry. "The sixth Confederate fleet will be using this planet as a stronghold, so resistance is both impossible and not advised." Eggman reminded them. "Half of the populace I'm afraid it will be up to the Empire to do with as it pleases. Those under my jurisdiction will be allowed to live their lives pretty much the same as before…" Eggman paused to chuckle. "Just so long as they do as I say."

G.U.N no longer existed in any recognisable form. Its military force had been completely crushed and whatever combat ready divisions remained had fled from the bases, leaving the positions vacant.

Assisted by the Eggman Empire, the Confederates marched over the globe suffering little interference and by now their hold on the Earth was absolute. What could be salvaged from the orbital guns which had given their fleet so much trouble was quickly assimilated. It was common invasion practise to strip whatever useless technology they could and use it to bolster their own arsenal.

"Communications with the divisions in Europe and across the world are down." Mr. Stuart announced as those who shared his intentions gathered in an underground office building in the ruined Central City. Many people were here. Military soldiers, officers, workers and various civilians from the community who had escaped the rounding up. Scarlet Garcia the reporter was here as well along with her news crew. "We're also lacking in firepower. At the moment we're going nowhere if we plan on fighting back."

"We can't just let them get away with this." A sergeant from the remaining military stated angrily. "They killed over five thousand soldiers today without a second thought, god knows what their doing to the civilians."

"I'm not saying we let them get away with it." Stuart replied calmly. "But really, you start rushing out there with a gun you wouldn't last two minutes." The sergeant growled and quieted down looking a little sheepish. "Locally, the aliens are rounding up all the people they can find into temporary camps." Stuart continued. "According to Black Arm intelligence we acquired before the battle, the Confederates sort the population of planets they capture into two groups. One group goes to the new regent of the planet; in this case Eggman." They were all gathered around a map of the world laid out on the table. Various other maps were rolled up nearby, including a map of the city and a layout of various G.U.N bases around the globe.

"And the other half?" The sergeant asked.

"The aliens take them back to their home solar system to work as slaves in their naval yards." It was said almost so casually that the full effect of it wasn't felt for another few seconds.

"Slavers!" Someone at the back shouted. "We lost to slavers!"

"We can't let them do that!"

"You're right there." Stuart put in before arguments could star breaking out. "But like I said before, we don't have the force to stop them right now."

"Then what the hell do you suggest we do?"

"You all know your history." Scarlet Garcia said. "And seen countless war movies. We stage hit and run operations just like the French Resistance during the Second World War."

"Are you suggesting we all become terrorists?" The sergeant asked looking stunned.

"One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter." A voice replied. Everyone glanced up sharply at the door at the top of the staircase leading down into the floor. Guns were drawn and cocked in Leaning against the doorway was a figure. It was human and still clad in a military uniform. The way he was letting the doorframe support his weight showed that he was either wounded or so exhausted he couldn't stand up properly.

"Commander Mandarin!" One of the soldiers exclaimed. "You're alive!" The man managed a short smile, one hand held clenched around his side.

"It's going to take more than these guys to put me in the ground." Jericho replied quite out of breath. "I'm afraid I lost the second Diablon escaping."

"There's still the original prototype." Stuart remarked. Jericho shook his head.

"Sorry. It was stationed on Giant Wing and the fortress must have been destroyed by now." He glanced up, still maintaining that smile. "I like the Resistance idea a lot. The first thing we ought to do is prevent them from abducting as many people as possible." He looked back over his shoulder. "…which is why I've brought along a friend to give us a helping hand." Someone was standing behind him; a huge mass of muscle underneath white and black fur. Like Mandarin himself this figure had two different coloured eyes; one of them sea blue and the other flaxen yellow. His body was bulky and thick with well developed muscle.

"My name is Jack." The feline replied, a long tail swaying out behind him. A claymore was strapped into a brown leather sheath across his back. His armour was leather engraved with metal; the plates painstakingly engraved with Nordic runes. "May Odin bestow the sprit of battle on you all, for Ragnarok is nigh."

* * *

-

Taking up residence in the White House, Eggman quickly set about changing all the icons from stars and stripes to his own Imperial icon. He found his face looked better on the floor of the oval office than an eagle. His robots had surrounded the building and taken over all places of resistance. With this building captured, planet Earth was now completely in his territory.

"Doctor is there any particular reason why you're wearing a pilot's helm?" Becoe asked as Eggman sat at the former Presidents desk, tugging an old-fashioned flying helmet down over his head. This hat was adapted, it had circuitry inside it and the two goggle eye patches onto looked to be part of a device of some kind.

"You'll see." The Doctor replied; turning the new item on his head until it was perfectly straight. "Bring me my best glasses and a bottle of champagne."

"Yes Doctor." The robot hurried off and Eggman paused to admire his new clothing. Finally succeeding in his mission and becoming ruler of the world; he decided he needed to look the part. He had kept his black pants, as they were the only size large enough for him. He had altered his red jacket so it no longer had coattails and the golden cuffs had a zipper. A thick white scarf hung around his shoulders, the end trailing over his left shoulder.

"Doctor, you are aware that the Confederates are rounding your subjects up." Decoe, the silver one of the mechanic duo began poking his head around the corner.

"Can't be helped." The Doctor replied. "It was part of the arrangement. I get the planet and half the people; they get the other half and the right to use the world as their stronghold in their little war." He gestured to the robot to get lost. "Now go make yourself busy, I'm expecting a call." Even as the robot vanished around the corner, the holographic screen appeared before the Doctor. It began buzzing with static as the signal was taking a moment to establish itself. In that time, Becoe went in with the champagne and glasses before disappearing himself.

The Doctor hesitated as he greeted with the image of a large, dark orange eye.

"Greetings." A voice began, buzzing along the bad connection.

"Doom's Eye I believe?" Eggman asked, pouring the champagne and trying not to be caught out by the appearance of such a creature. Baal had warned him what to expect, but even so it had caught him a little off guard. A star fish like being, six long almost tentacle like limbs lancing out like a star with that eye directly in the middle. The skin was dark violet, almost black with thick traces of slim slowly dripping away from its surface.

"I am the Coordinator of the Confederate Empire." It replied. "And you are Doctor Eggman."

"I see my reputation precedes me." Silence endured for a moment and Eggman watched as a steady glow began to gather within that eye, locked on him. Realizing what was happening, the Doctor clicked his fingers.

Suddenly the two glass goggle like circles on the top of his helmet started glowing neon green. Dooms' Eye swayed back as if surprised, blinking the one eye, the single silted pupil contracting to a near vertical line.

"Interesting." The starfish muttered. "It seems you have been able to put mental blocks around your mind. I can not read it." The Doctor smiled evilly and tapped the side of his new helmet.

"I heard about your mental powers and decided to take the necessary precautions. I don't like the idea of anyone poking around inside my head." The Dooms Eye appeared amused.

"Resourceful and inventive, the admirals report has greatly underestimate your talents." One of the Doctor's many flaws was that he was easily flattered. "I've had a chance to see those machines of yours in action."

"The badniks?"

"Yes. I'm impressed really, you clearly have a robotics technology that I am prepared to admit surpasses ours." The image panned in so all the Doctor could see was the eye. "So, I'm going to make you an offer." The doctor put his face into a frown and was silent for a few moments.

"Go on…"

"The War with Com-Fed is a considerable drain on our own forces." The starfish explained. "In order to effectively engage them within this spiral arm I have had to deploy many fleets, leaving our own territory undermanned and vulnerable to attacks. We have experimented with unmanned peacekeepers before, but we could never create a system cheep enough for it. They simply take up too much of our resources. Your technology does not seem to have such a limitation." Eggman was quiet, remembering how he had come to invent his robot production lines. Sonic was smashing up his armies so quickly he needed to pump them out just as fast. Their rivalry had forced him to create the nanotechnology to help in his industries. He paused to speculate that without Sonic he would have invented some of his greatest works.

The irony was not lost on him.

"You want my technology?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "That's copyrighted hardware."

"We would compensate you handsomely." Doom's eye assured him. "Just think of it, with your technology reinforcing our fleets we could become a near unstoppable fighting force. Our banner would be raised on every known planet on this side of the Galaxy centre.

"So far I see precious little reason as to why I should." Eggman admitted swirling his champagne around in the glass, gazing into it. "I have already accomplished my goal by conquering the Earth." Doom's Eye seemed amused by his statement and chuckled.

"And I thought you had ambition Doctor." Eggman glanced up. "That planet you helped us conquer is nothing but a backwater. Its only use to us is as a stronghold. What could you possibly accomplish here, when the rest of the universe is calling out to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"The compensation for your technology." Dooms eye stated. "I could use a being like you in my elite. I could make you my chief engineer.

As a member of the Empire's aristocracy, this world you helped us to conquer will be one of many under your direct control." The easily recognisable spark of greed was already clear in Eggman's eyes. "Why rule as regent of one planet, when you can be duke of a solar system?" The Doctor was silent for a moment and his gaze drifted back to the glass in his hands.

He confessed that he had not given too much thought to his plans beyond the conquest of Earth, he knew that expansion out into space would be part of his overall plans but he didn't know what that would entail. Perhaps fate was giving him a helping hand, showing him the way.

"Dooms eye." The doctor began lifting the glass in a toast, eyes glinting evilly in the light from the holographic display. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

* * *

-

_**In Chris voice: **_

Earth conquered, Sonic and the others transported across the galaxy and the Doctor in an alliance with Doom's eye?

Is there any hope left, or will a timely discovery aboard the ruins of Giant Wing turn the tables? Find out next time on Sonic X as the Diablon Saga begins. Don't miss it!


	7. Episode 4, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO GO GO GO LET'S GO!

**The Diablon Saga**

Episode 4: The Second Prototype

* * *

The terraformation and colonisation of a planet was seriously big business within the Combine Federation. Half a dozen big companies had been founded for that single purpose.

First the planet you needed to transform had to be suitable distance from its sun, to allow an atmosphere to devolve in later stages of terraforming and even then, there had to be something already '_planet bound' _worth going after, such as ore or plenty of raw materials.

Com-Fed interest in planets wasn't always purely for civilian purposes.

Most planets within their territory were dead husks orbiting red stars. These planets were on their death beds, hardly suitable for colonization.

Once a suitable planet with a young healthy sun had been located, the complicated process could actually begin.

First the planet's original atmosphere was studied to see if plants could survive there without aid. If so, the surface would be dusted with seeds.

The basic idea was that the plants would absorb the carbon dioxide in the air and transform it into oxygen and then once most of the reactions had taken place, it would start to rain none stop, forming oceans, rivers lakes and other abundant water sources. If that planet could not support plants, then the process was done manually.

All this was done by colossal terraforming ships, giant vessels that could be used on the new planet for building purposes. Unfortunately they didn't have much in the way of defences or weapons systems, so they had to be escorted by the expensive to hire military.

Once the planet's atmosphere was to speculations several years were taken to adjust the planet's various regions to meet standard produce levels. Then animals from various planets, who would be best suited to the terrain, would be introduced. The entire process took at least twenty years to perform and then another ten to stabilise the planet so it didn't revert back to its barren state.

When a large abundance of metal ore was discovered on the remote planet Cyclops; a large desolate world orbiting a small sun that in turn orbited a large one, nearly every big business was struggling to get a signed contract from the President, commissioning them for the terraforming project.

Forty years later, Cyclops had been transformed into a class 4 Terra planet.

Almost immediately, a ship carrying colonists and experienced miners was dispatched to lay claim to that ore before any pirates got wind of the operation as was often the case.

"We're entering the system now Captain." The Falcon nodded in response, the tips of his crest of navy blue feathers swaying out behind him.

"What's our ETA?" Captain Alexander of the Combined Federation of Interstellar states asked the helm officer. The Captain was a Falcon, but not a part of the Admiralty of his race. He had joined the Federation some time ago and worked his way up through the ranks to the position of naval captain.

Like all Falcons he resembled a bird, with feathers, beak and scaly shins. His feathers were blue, showing his age. He wasn't a young Falcon at the right mating age anymore and his colors had dulled because of it. When he had been in his prime, his feathers had been red with black tips. The display varied from Falcon to Falcon and colors had been a striking emerald green, a display designed to catch the eye.

Heading to some remote planet in a remote section of their spiral army of the galaxy, an unthinkable distance away from his home world Roc, was not his idea of a good time. The Federation frontier was some distance away, he was needed and now he was escorting a colony ship.

He had spent years fighting the Confederate Imperial army in the first campaign and had been awarded several medals for bravery some ten years ago. They were still placed upon his left breast pocket.

He knew exactly why he was here of course. He had annoyed someone with connections. A rich presidential representative who had the foot in the Governments war branch.

Although he couldn't think who, they had left Alexander standard on Cyclops for five years before he was relieved by the second drop ship due to arrive.

He glanced again at the report on screen before the captains chair.

The solar system that Cyclops belonged to was, to say the least, rather unique. There were two suns called Sirius 1 and Sirius 2; the smaller Sirius 2 was caught in the larger gravitational field and now circled it with an egg shaped orbit. Sirius 2 was the sun they were currently heading toward.

In that bizarre solar system there were 9 planets and only Cyclops had been suitable for terraformation or at least that's what the report said.

In the file in front of him was the collective data the scientists had put together before leaving, what plants to expect on the surface, what animals they had let loose, weather conditions of various regions and more importantly where the largest deposits of ore lay. A landing site hadn't been specified, so Alexander got the privilege of picking their landing site.

"At present speed and course. We'll be there within two days." The helm officer replied. "Should we go any faster?"

"Nah we'll have the miners complaining about our pace." The captain replied, sitting himself back down. "They're getting paid extra for the trip so the longer it takes, the greater their overall income is."

"Captain, long range sensors are picking up a debris field." Someone announced. Alexander looked up.

"Asteroids?" He asked.

"No sir, the computers detecting traces of compound metals. Looks like a ship grave yard." That was certain new. There wasn't any mention of this on the mission report.

"An old wreck?"

"No sir, looks pretty recent." Alexander mused for a moment. Perhaps they were passing through a pirate's hunting territory. It was unlikely Confederate work as they were too far inside Com-Fed territory for that. "We're also picking up a low level signal. It may be a distress beacon."

"All ships; slow to quarter speed." The falcon ordered and the convoy of ships reduced their speed accordingly. Soup in the bowls inside the large canteen of the flag ship jumped out of their bowls at the sudden lurch, spraying in the faces of those trying to eat.

There was a short exclamation amongst those standing, especially civilians who'd never been on a space transport ship before. "Send out a scout ship. Recon the area and then report back."

"Yes sir."

* * *

-

Of their defeat, no one had said a word. None of them dared to. It was the first time they had lost such a major battle, where the fate of the world was on the line. Each and every time they went up to bat to prevent disaster they always won.

They were not used to the taste of defeat.

Those onboard busied themselves with something or other, occupying their minds with some tasks such as repairing the ship or decompressing the collapsed hanger bay. It was a distraction to keep themselves from collapsing into despair and for the most part it worked.

The Blue Typhoon was floating through a void. Its engines, weapons systems and shields were all down and serious damage had been done to it's structure by the bombardment it had received in battle. Floating around it was the debris from the fight that had been transported with them by Dark Oak's Chaos Control. Fragments from G.U.N, Egg Fleet and even Confederate ships lay scattered in space; drifting here and there. Directly at the centre of this massive field of scrap metal was the motionless Blue Typhoon, stranded.

Sonic the Hedgehog stood at the front of the bridge staring out into space with an emotionless expression on his face. He'd been standing there ever since they got here and had spoken to no one. From a distance it appeared as if he wasn't even breathing.

"Dead as a dodo." Chris remarked, finding that everything beyond the life-support systems was either non responsive or in need of serious maintenance. "Until we get the engines going, we're going nowhere."

"Now long is that going to take?" Bean asked looking over his shoulder.

"Given that we've got no replacement parts for the chaos energy conductors…" The boy began running his fingers through his hair. "Never."

"Even if we got the engines going, just where would we go?" Hare asked, fixing all those before him with a stern glare. Despite his floppy ears hanging over his face he appeared angry beyond reckoning. "We have no idea where we are and even if we did; we've no planet to go back to!" He smacked a thick fist down on the wall, cracks spreading across the surface. "We tried our best and we still BLEW IT!"

He was only reminding them of facts they were already painfully aware and realizing this, he stopped and for once he managed to contain his temper. "I'm sorry." Nobody said anything in reply.

Even though the power of the Master Emerald was nearly inexhaustible, it could be weakened by prolonged usage. The amount of energy called forth from the jewel to keep the Egg-Shield up and running had not only drained the Master Emerald but had also sent a powerful discharge back through into the ships engines. The resulting burn out had left them stranded here.

Knuckles however was not about to give up.

"Still no luck huh?" Vector asked, finding the red Echidna sitting before the Master Emerald alone. The glow it usually surrounded itself with had dulled considerably and the overall color of the giant jewel had darkened. Knuckles did not reply to the crocodile's question. "Say, where's that bat girl who hangs around you so much?"

"If you mean Rouge she's helping Amy with a few things." The echidna replied as the crocodile ascended the metallic steps to the top of the imitation shrine.

"I'm surprised you're not with your girlfriend at a time like this." Vector remarked, scratching the tip of his snout. Knuckles shuddered lightly.

"She is NOT my girlfriend." He stated firmly.

"Sure buddy." Vector replied trying to silence a laugh before it arrived. "And I suppose with a girl with a cleavage like that you haven't been tempted once?" Knuckles narrowed an eye at him.

"Just what are you implying?"

"Hey, I'm a guy too ya know." A faint shade of red passed over Knuckles' muzzle.

"I'm not having this discussion." He stated turning away. Vector just shrugged.

"Shame." The crocodile stated, dusting his hands in front of himself. "I could have given you some good tips." Knuckles shot around and stared at him with a questioning look on his face.

"You? Just what do you know about…" He paused, searching for a better phase than the one that instantly came to mind. "That sort of thing?" A thin toothy grin spread across Vector's scaly lips.

"You are looking at 'Doctor Love' Vector." Knuckles had to shudder. "My advice…"

"Is utterly worthless, take my word for it." A voice stated as out of nothing, the form of Espio became visible.

"Do you have to sneak up on people like that?" The crocodile asked with a pained expression. Espio just shrugged.

"Force of habit from training." He replied. "I don't know why you're trying to instruct him. You haven't been on a date since you were fifteen."

"I've got a girl haven't it?" Vector asked angrily.

"That doesn't count." Espio replied with a snap. "Vanilla can be as air headed as you." Realizing he had crossed a line the chameleon trailed off. Now Vector had been reminded that the love of his life had been left behind on Earth, a planet recently overrun by invaders.

Vector was not the only on with thoughts of those they had left behind and in the grasp of the aliens using their planet as a stronghold. Cream had been giving it a great deal of thought, in fact it was the only thing occupying her thoughts.

"Momma." She whispered to herself, staring out the window through the vast gulf of space. Cheese had nestled himself in her straw hat, the ball floating about his head changing shape in correspondence to his mood. At the moment it was a heart shape. He was concerned for the welfare of his owner and seeing this, Emerl placed a metal hand gently on Cream's shoulder.

The other robot, E123: Omega had taken a battering in his duel with E102: Gamma. His systems were damaged nearly beyond repair and his entire left arm needed replacing. The only one presentably able to do this was Metal Sonic, who as well as in need of a few repairs.

The robotic hedgehogs presence on the ship was not being taken lightly. After all, the Blue Typhoon itself had been built in order to stop his Machine Federation. Metal Sonic could almost sense the resentment towards him. He did not blame them for it.

After everything both he and them had been through, he had come to the conclusion that it was he, not them; who had been in the wrong as he first imagined.

Rebuilding the Machine Federation; a realm of scientist androids, that may have been an outgrowth of Doctor Eggman's ambition, was still in his opinion a worthy cause. Only next time, he decided; he would go about it differently. These organic life-forms, while most assuredly a problem, usually only attacked when provoked.

Now however was most assuredly not the time to be dedicating effort to it. The current situation needed to be resolved first. While the fate of the Earth was not his any of his concern, events that displeased him had been put into motion.

First and foremost, the return of the traitorous Dark Oak bothered him. Who was his ally, why did he want the Chaos Emeralds and just how had he survived in the first place? All of these questions begged answers and at the moment Metal Sonic could not provide them.

"Any of the Mech's still working?" Chuck asked as he saw Okida leaning against the closed door that lead into the launching bay where they stored the various battle machines they used. Most of them they had been given by the G.U.N commander as a present to ensure there were no hard feelings after Hexagon had the military hunting them down.

The vampire bat shot him a glance over his shoulder. Without a word he pressed a button on the side of the door and it slid apart, the smell of smoke and smoldering ash came bellowing out. The fire extinguishers were still going full tilt to combat the blaze inside, flames burning through collapsed piles of blackened and jagged metal. Sam Speed was still in there inside a fire protection suit, armed with a hose; spraying a torrent of water onto the flames. "Ah."

"The fire's under control. From what I've seen though once its out we won't have much to patch together." The major stated, dusting his hands to clear the dust and soot after closing the doors again. He winced suddenly and twitched his left arm.

"Well that's it for our big gun arsenal." Chuck commented not noticing the sudden flash of pain cross over the bats face. During the fight, he had been hit by the debris from the exploding Albatross mech. Most of it had missed him, but one large piece had grazed his side. Only now was it making itself know. The pain was spreading from his chest and across his torso. He could feel himself growing light headed.

"Know any good scrap merchants?" The major asked, forcing a grin back over his face to mask the pain.

"Knuckles is still trying to get the Master Emerald hooked back up to the engines, but all the cables got fried when the Egg-Shield broke down." As Chuck carried on Okida felt the strength in his legs go little by little.

Topaz came into view at that moment. She had been working frantically with the Thorndyke's to try and restore order to the ship and while failing thus far was working her best. Okida hardly noticed her presence. The pain had spread beyond his ability to ignore and he was well aware he was starting to pass out.

"The systems need a reboot of over five hours." She stated approaching them. "So we'll be stuck here for a…" She paused and became the first to notice the red stain slowly moving across the vampire bats coat, seeping out from under his fingers. For a moment she was unsure what it was, only to have the realization hit her straight in the face. Chuck only noticed something was wrong when the major sagged forward a little.

"Hey are you…" Before he could finish Okida toppled over and crashed to the floor. As soon as he was down his wings fell across him like a blanket. From out underneath him a pool of blood began to gather.

"Koji!" Topaz nearly screamed she dropped to her knees and tried to pull him up. Chuck was already calling for medical assistance but the world quickly went dead to the major as slowly he blacked out. "KOJI!"

* * *

---

"Just what are you doing?" Hare asked, leaning over the side of the captains seat as Chris began twisting the wires underneath the console.

"The only power we've got is to life support and minimal shielding." The boy replied without looking up. "We're flying blind at the moment and I'm trying to change that." Hare glanced up at the airless vacuum of space just beyond the pane of glass. There were thousands of stars in patterns he did not recognize, occasionally eclipsed by pieces of battleships as they floated by. Some of the pieces were pretty large and flying into one in their current state was not a good idea.

"You rerouting power or somethin'?" The rabbit like mobian asked, leaning so far over to see what Chris was doing that his ears flopped down over his face.

"Just borrowing a little from the lights to jump start the sensors." Chris replied, fixing one final wire before replacing the hatch and standing back up. "Well, that should do it…" He paused. "I think."

"You think?" Hare asked looking up with a worried expression.

"Well the sudden charge might polarize the connections." Chris admitted scratching the back of his head.

"What's the worse that can happen?" The rabbit asked flipping his ears back over the back of his head.

"We get another burned out system."

"With so many others burned who's going to care?" Chris paused to think at that.

"Good point." He replied with a smile as he turned to face the control panel. "Well, here goes." The boy held his breath and pressed the button marked; restart. There was a brief hum from above and the lights dimmed a little.

Then the display screens before the seat began activating one by one.

"Did it work?" Hare asked. Chris quickly sat himself down in the seat.

"Oh yeah it worked." He replied with a wide grin. "We've got sensor feed back." The screens were all showing the intense about of space junk around the ship. There was a lot of it. They were directly in the middle of a field of broken and scared metal.

"Hey what's that?" Hare asked, pointing to the screen at the green dot blinking just out of range. Chris ran his hands over the console and the picture widened, showing that floating nearby was a giant ruin, the scarred remains of a colossal battleship. The green blinking dot was centered directly upon it.

"It's a beacon." Chris replied. "According to the computer it's a G.U.N class distress signal." The two of them exchanged a glance.

"You think there could be survivors?"

"Something had to turn the signal on. They aren't automated." Caught up with this neither or them noticed the pink hedgehog standing beside Sonic.

The blue hedgehog had said nothing said she arrived. He didn't even acknowledge your presence. He simply stood that staring off into space with a vacant expression across his face. Amy hadn't made any attempt to talk either. She simply stood there, waiting for him to say something. After a while when not a word of conversation passed between them, she finally relented.

"Please Sonic, talk to me." Again he didn't reply. "Damn it Sonic, stop it!" She grabbed his arm but he refused to budge. He didn't even blink. "You're not going to ignore me! Look you stupid idiot, we all feel bad. We all hate this stinking situation but that doesn't give any of us the right to mope about it right now." He blinked but no more movement than that. Amy just sighed and leaned against the glass.

She had never seen Sonic quite like this before. He had lost a few battles before; but loosing one of this magnitude was uncharted emotional territory for him. Everyone had their own way of dealing with the shock, anger and frustration but it disturbed her to see him so quiet; so…un-Sonic like.

"I can still see Eggman's face laughing at me." He stated suddenly without looking at her. She blinked and looked up. "He'd been planning all that time we'd been training. He'd been watching us like a Hawk and we even trusted him with our battle plans." A grim smile passed over the hedgehog lips. A smile that tittered on the edge of demented. "We never had a chance from the beginning." Amy paused for a minute.

"Even if that was true we still had to fight." Sonic didn't reply again. "Whether we win or lose isn't important." Sonic hissed out through his nose and narrowed his eyes.

"It's all well and good saying that now we've already lost." He stated. "I kept going because I had something to prove. That allowed me to pick myself up time and time again. What do I have now?" For the first time perhaps Amy saw what motivated Sonic in a battle. It was his ego.

Eggman, the hedgehogs polar opposite provided him with a rivalry that pushed him to his best. That was what Sonic used to feed his soul during his early years, but as his renown grew and he became a hero to the entire world; he grew to think his mission was to protect the planet that idolized him so much. With that gone and Eggman the one to take it way, Sonic had nothing. The personality that had propelled him for so long was beginning to cave in.

"You have me." She replied. For the first time, Sonic moved; his head turning to stare directly at her. "But if you've given up now then you're on your own.

I'm going to continue fighting because if I just give up I'd never be able to live with myself." Sonic's expression was unreadable. "I'm not going to give up until the fat lady sings." Amy managed a smile. "You're the one who taught me that." She walked away and Sonic was left alone again. His face vacant.

---

* * *

Topaz stood by herself in the sick bay at the far end of the bed in which lay the unconscious Major. He had an oxygen mask over his face and electrodes attached to his chest. His coat, jacket and shirt had been removed and bandages stained with blood were wrapped around the injuries they had found underneath. The metallic shard debris had been removed in a quick operation and was now lying in a metallic tray next to the bed.

"Given that Mobians have a healing factor twice that of an average human, I'd say he got off easy." Chuck announced. He wasn't a doctor but he did have enough medical knowledge to remove the shards and stitch up the wound. "But still the explosion in his cockpit gave him broken ribs and a few internal injuries. I'll have to wait until he wakes up to tell if he's got a concussion."

"Stupid idiot must have been in constant pain." Sam Speed remarked looking at the x-ray they'd taken off his chest. It showed how deep the shards that penetrated his body. Darkened areas showed a lot of bruising. "Yet somehow he managed to ignore it long enough to help with the fires and some of the damages."

"Until he collapsed that is." Chuck replied.

"It's his way." Topaz stated without looking back, his gaze locked onto the sleeping bat. "When Tails left, Koji assumed the responsibly of keeping this ship safe from harm until he returns for it." Her face softened into a brief smile. "It's a role he takes very seriously."

"Koji?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow. "Hey that's the first time I'd heard anyone use his first name." Topaz heisted.

"I do believe Topaz here is the only one who calls him that name." Chuck added. "Could it be our dear Topaz here holds him in high regard?"

"What err… no it's nothing like that!" She began, waving her arms almost like a maniac. "We're just…. Good… friends!" The former military captain smiled nervously. "Just good friends."

"I heard that from Lindsey about Nelson right before Chris was born." Sam added in.

"And Nelson about Lindsey."

"This…isn't a…. productive discussion." A weak voice began. All three of them looked around. Okida was pushing himself up. He pulled the oxygen mask off his face he sat up completely, his wings pushed out either side to curve around his arms. "Surely… we've got better… things to be doing with our time." Without a moment of hesitation, Topaz drew her arm back and slapped him hard.

"You bastard!" She screamed at him. "Even you must have known how badly injured you were!" Despite the sore cheek the vampire bat just smiled.

"Didn't want to be a burden." Topaz looked like she was about to slap him again.

"If that's true then why did you let yourself get so bad we had to drag to the sick bay?" Okida didn't answer to that. "You stupid men and your pride! That's what all this is about isn't it!" Chuck and Sam decided it was in their best interest to stay out of this and backed off.

"I've no pride to my name." Okida stated without a hint of emotion in his voice. "Not anymore." Topaz's angry features softened.

"What do you mean?" The bat sat up properly, placing his hands in his lap.

"I've lost fights before, that's no big deal. But that last time was different. It really mattered; a fight I couldn't afford to lose. Any pride I had before was swallowed up the moment I let myself get hit."

"Don't you think we all feel like that?" She asked him. "It's been chewing all of us up inside for hours now."

"Me especially." Okida stated. "Because I know if hadn't been for my lack of skill as a pilot I could have done more."

"Lack of skill?" She repeated sounding astonished. "You're probably the best Mech pilot there is. Half of G.U.N knew you're near legendary skills." Okida chuckled and leaned back against the pillow.

"If I deserved that reputation then I wouldn't have lost a battle that important." Topaz just stood there with a confused look on her face. There was a sudden brief buzzing and a holographic screen appeared in the air nearby, showing Chris' face.

"Hey Grandpa, sorry to call in if you're busy." He began with a short smile on his lips.

"No it's okay." Chuck replied with a sigh of relief, grateful for anything to break that melancholy atmosphere. "What's the problem? I see you've been able to restore internal communications." The boy nodded.

"Yes and I've got some external sensors up and running." His face disappeared to be replaced by an outside representation of the ship and the debris floating around it. "I've been able to pick up a distress signal coming from nearby." The green blinking dot in the largest piece of debris was glowing.

"Could some of the soldiers have survived?" Sam asked.

"Looks that way." Amy Rose stated leaning over Chris' shoulder so she could her head in the communications hologram. "Okida, Sam; are they're any shuttles left?"

"We've an Icarus class shuttle in one of the hanger bays." Sam replied. "It's probably the only thing on this ship that doesn't need repairs."

"Then I'll be taking it out to investigate." Okida stated as he threw his legs over the side of the bed.

"Say what?" Topaz asked. "In your condition, are you nuts?" Okida grinned, ignoring the stabbing pain under the bandages as he supported his own weight. "Have the broken ribs escaped your notice or something?"

"It's an easy enough task." He stated shrugging his wings as his arms were too uncomfortable to do it. "Besides we're made of tougher stuff than you humans are." Topaz frowned deeply.

"All you do is heal faster."

"Let him do as he wants." A voice stated. Amy and Chris glanced up hearing it from their end. Standing before them was Sonic, one hand placed upon his hip. His expression was vacant; until slowly it forged itself into a wide characteristic smile that Amy had grown so found of.

"Maybe you didn't hear me about the broken ribs part?" Topaz asked.

"He just needs something to give him purpose." Was the blue hedgehog prompt reply. "I can understand that."

"Sonic…" Amy started with wide eyes. Sonic's smile turned into a goofy parody and he stretched out his arms.

"Hey why's everyone acting so serious?" He asked throwing his quills around like a long hair do. "So we lost a battle, big deal. We've never let that stop us before I don't think we should make a habit of it now." He flicked the side of his nose with his thumb. "You only really loose if you give up, right?" His statement was general but Amy could tell it was directed more at her than any one else. She felt tears brimming in her eyes and forced them back, her face set in a smile that refused to leave.

Metal Sonic, who had been standing on the outside hull of the ship listening in on the conversation; folded his arms and tilted his head forward.

"That's the Sonic I remember." He stated, the ends of his red cape drifting about behind him.


	8. Episode 4, part 2

The debris field around the ship was a thick floating mass of twisting and scarred metal. Most of it was unrecognizable, but enough had retained its basic shape for an observer to tell it was the evidence of a battle. Ships ripped in half were slowly drifting into oblivion; culminated wreckages of vessels belong to Eggman, G.U.N and even Confederate Army.

With a loud shunting sound the hanger doors on the underside of the Blue Typhoon opened, the light from inside flooding out into darkness. Metallic arms descended out, attached to each end was the corner of an Icarus shuttle. Chuck had helped the military design these craft himself for quick evacuations and they had developed into short range transport vehicles for their space fleet. At least, it had right up until the fleets disastrous battle.

"Disengaging grapping hooks." The pilot of the shuttle stated from the inside of helmet of a space suit and once the shuttle was beyond the hanger doors, the arms let go and retracted back inside the ship. The pilot flicked some switches above him and the two thrusters at the back of the shuttle turned on, the two solar sails at the top and the bottom opened up like fins on the fish and slowly the craft began to slowly move forward.

"We really have to wear these dorky looking' things?" Sonic asked, finding that pushing his quills inside the space suit was more difficult than it looked.

"Amy broke my field generator and I don't have the resources to build another one." Chuck replied over the communications line built into the helmet. "So you're just going to have to make do. We've loaded the coordinates of the beacon into the shuttles computer so just follow that. We'll be monitoring you from this end."

"Roger." The pilot, Okida, replied his voice muffled by the helmet. Sitting in the co-pilots seat was Topaz. With Okida behaving this way she wasn't going to let him out of her sight.

"I'm watching you." She reminded him. "You're in no condition to do anything stupid. Remember, right now you're a ferry jock."

"Fine." Okida stated without a moments hesitation. "That's all my skills with ever amount to anyway."

Moving through the debris and avoiding collision required a great deal of maundering and the trip through it to the beacons source took longer. Visibility was more because this was a dark region of space. There wasn't anything around to supply light accept the Blue Typhoon and even its range was extremely limited. All they had to see where they were going were the two head lights at the front of the shuttle.

"I can't see a thing." Sonic complained straining to look through the cockpit window. Visibility was extremely poor. The lights before them only were revealing obstacles in their path a couple of meters away from the bow. "Are we getting close?"

"According to the sensors we ought to be right on top of it." Topaz replied glancing down at the radar a screen with the downloaded map from the Blue Typhoon overlaid over it. Their crew was a collection of five. That was all they were taking with them as they needed the space to bring back possible survivors. There was Okida, Topaz, Sonic, Hare and Emerl.

Being the only robot without serious damage, he had 'volunteered' himself for it. Cream, detached from her mother, quite literally clung to his leg as he stepped in the shuttle. Vector was taken her away, promising that he was going to look after her for a while.

"Well I don't see anything." Hare added from the confines of his own suit. According to the radar they should be without visual distance of the wreck but so far…

"Whoa Nelly!" Okida cried out, slamming his hand down on the reverse thrusters controls. Emerging out of the void before them was a colossal wall of metal and they were about to slam into it. The entire shuttle shook before the thrusters aimed forward kicked in and the vessel stopped sudden. Sonic was thrown from his seat and into the front of the console.

"What the heck is that?" Hare asked. Okida pressed a button and the lights angled themselves upwards, two circles of illumination examining the barrier in front of them. There was evidence all over of scaring from battle, holes from missile impacts ripped in the surface pf the riveted metal. Finally they learned the identity of the craft when they came across a 'G' logo.

"Giant Wing." Okida breathed with his eyes wide in mute horror. G.U.N's airborne stronghold, the physical symbol of their military strength, the flag ship of their fleet; reduced to scrap metal. The bodies of men in space suits floated back and forth in the gloom. The crew must have been attempting to evacuate when the attack came. By the look of it, none of them had survived.

"This is horrible." Hare commented staring out at the wreckage.

"The signal's coming from inside." Topaz announced. "There may still be survivors." The shuttle few down and around the massive scared hull, the evidence of war wounds firs illuminated before vanishing in the lights. Eventually they found what appeared to be an entrance hatch for air craft. While it was primarily a fortress, Giant Wing had served was an aircraft carrier for fighter planes and Albatross Mechs. As such it had many runways and entrances for their battle machines.

This one was the only one they had been able to find in relatively good condition. All the others had collapsed or been blasted in.

Finding that the entrance was slightly too small for their shuttle, Okida had it wait outside for a moment while he checked the transmitted coordinates.

"According to these, the signals being transmitted from only a hundred feet in." The major stated. "I saw the blue prints for the fortress once. If I'm right that puts it in the storage bays."

"So how we getting in'?" The rabbit asked. "That door ain't big for the shuttle and we can't leave it out here."

"Yeah the choice of parking spaces is appalling." Sonic added, glancing out the side window at the floating debris that could strike them at any time.

"We'll just have to cut out a bigger door." Okida replied and pressed a button in front of him. A long mechanical arm folded out from underneath the shuttle, multi-jointed with a buzz saw blade and motor attached to the end. "Pull up a magazine; this may take a few minutes." Slowly he began cutting around the entrance to make it wider. The hanger inside itself was wide enough to accommodate the shuttle but the entrance itself was only meant for maintenance craft.

After a few minutes, Okida was finished and the metallic shards cut away floated off leaving an opening wide enough for the shuttle to pass through.

"Retracting solar sails." Topaz announced and the four fins like sails at either side and on the underside and on the top, pulled back against the side of the shuttle. "Switching to combustion engine." The thrusters at the back of the Icarus thudded like the single beating of a heart and slowly the shuttle moved forward, sliding forward into the ruins of Giant Wing.

"Anchors away." Okida added and several lines attached rapidly from the ship, the metallic devices on each end pinning it to the floor below.

"Okay, I think we're docked." Hare stated putting down a magazine and standing up so fast he floated off his seat in the absence of gravity. "Let's get this over with."

"I think we should spilt up." Topaz stated.

"What for?" The blue hedgehog asked from the inside of his space helmet. Topaz simply handed each of them large sack and beamed at their confused faces.

"Okida and I while check for survivors at the signals source." She told him. "You and Hare check the fortress' supplies and see if there's anything we can use left in there."

"Like what?"

"Well the nearest burger bar's a good couple of thousand light-years away so **_food_** for a start. We weren't expecting to get sent out here so our supply's kind of slim." She replied. "But what we really need are replacement connectors for the engine. Grab what you can." Both Sonic and Hare gave a mock salute.

"On it." They said both at once.

In zero-g, Sonic wasn'y unable to get any footing. Thus his speed was greatly hindered and without it, he found himself floating around a lot with no way to get down.

"There are Electro-magnets in the soles of your shoes." Hare called up to him through the communication device in their helmets. Sonic looked down to see a small button on the outside edge of his suits boots. He pressed them and instantly was pulled down towards the floor, his feet sticking to it as if someone had simply turned the gravity back on.

"That's better." He stated, stamping a few times to test them out.

"Try not run too fast though." Hare warned. "Slip at your speed in zero-g, we'll never be able to catch up with you." The brief image of him flying out uncontrollably into outer space shot across the hedgehog's mind and he slowly put his foot back down.

As the two mobians went off on their supply run, Topaz and Okida descended from the shuttle themselves. Emerl dropped like a rock, his weight meaning nothing; his decent coming from the more powerful magnets in his mechanical feet.

"Okida is it a personal thing?" She asked him outright. "Look we all feel bad for loosing the fight but you can't let it get to you."

"It's not that I lost the fight." He replied, landing on the floor of Giant Wings hanger bay after gliding down from the shuttle above. "I wish I could have done more, but looking at my skills and armaments at the time I doubt I could have." He didn't even face her as she landed behind him. "I wasn't strong enough to make a difference."

"Stubborn jackass." She muttered putting her hands on her hips. The last thing she needed right now was to the major to have an identity crisis. "Come on Mr. Moody, let's get going."

Finding what had been the canteen was easy enough. It was brightly labeled and they found jars and tinned food floating out the door, along with another body in a space suit.

"Poor guy was probably trying to swipe what he could from the kitchens for taking off." Hare commented, pushing the body out of the way with the least amount of contact. Neither of them had the guts to look at the face as it drifted away.

"Isn't that what we're doing?" The blue hedgehog asked, walking past and into the canteen itself. All interior lights were off so his way lit by a small torch light on the top of his helmet. "Ok, there should be something in the there." He added, pointing over to a closed door marked; kitchen. "I'll check it out. See what you can find over there."

"Sure whatever." Hare replied walking off, the sound of the magnets on his shoes buzzing as metal made contact with metal.

Finding the door locked, Sonic gave it a kick and it swung open. At once a steady stream of pots, pans, tins and jars came floating out. Sonic tried to grab what he could but even his hands weren't fast enough to take everything. Eventually he filled half his sack with the tins. Seeing as they were all sealed and air tight he guessed that even floating through space for a while, they were still edible.

Inside the kitchen itself, the found the place in a mess. Everything had tipped out of the ovens, units and even the oil had floated out of the fat burner. But that wasn't what was brought to his attention. Floating nearby was another body, but that of a G.U.N solider. It was the body of the Fesonian.

For a moment Sonic thought it to be a Black Arm, but the uniform like body armor it was wearing was unfamiliar to him and bore an icon he had never seen before. An arched crescent moon like symbol with a small circle in the middle, making an 'eye' like shape. At a guess, he would say this was a Confederate.

He picked up a spatula as it floated past and pocked the body. It floated back a good foot and stopped. Its limbs hung put before it lifelessly, the back arched over like a newborn child.

"Dead alright." He stated out load.

"What's dead?" Hare asked, hearing his comment through the com-link in their helmets. The rabbit popped his head around the door. "Oh." He stated sighting the reptilian body.

"Looks like this one bit the dust from gunfire rather than the vacuum." He was basing that assumption on the torn holes in the amour that were caved inward. "Looks like G.U.N still had some fight left in it."

"Almost feel sorry for the guy."

"Almost." Sonic repeated turning away.

* * *

---

Entering the storage section of the fortress from where the signal was coming from was most difficult as most of the entrances to and from it were lifts, which with the absence of power were no working. Eventually Topaz found a stairway and the two of them descended down it floor by floor.

Okida hissed, feeling the torn flesh tugging at him again. Choosing to suffer in silence he said nothing. Besides, he could cope with being uncomfortable for a while. Given the situation and the possibly of finding survivors, his own complaints amounted to very little; at least in his perspective.

"I never realized before just how much we rely on automation." Topaz stated, finding another door that refused to move without electricity. This however was the last one. It was the entrance to the storage area from which the signal was coming from. "Ok Emerl, do your thing." The robot made an action that resembled cracking his knuckles, before pushing his fingers into the centre of the door. The metal groaned as inch by inch the obstacle slid open, pushed until finally it was just about wide enough for them to squeeze through.

Before they could get through, there was an intense barrage of laser fire aimed straight at them. Emerl caught the direct strikes, but managed to avoid serious damage by ducking back quickly.

"Hey those are G.U.N issue laser rifles." Topaz stated, seeing the blue flashes zip past them. "Hold fire in there!" She called out. "We're on your side." The lasers instantly stopped and there was a buzz of static on the communication sets in their helmets. Transmission on another frequency, Okida was quick to realize and set his to try and correspond.

"I repeat, Friend or foe?" A very human voice asked.

"Friend." Okida replied quite quickly. "We're here to look for survivors."

"Oh thank god." Someone else replied.

"Stand down." The first voice added. "We've got friendly's." Topaz put her head around the door with the light from her helmet shining in. The interior of the storage area of revealed, showing over twenty G.U.N soldiers in space suits that had taken up defendable positions around the door. Another good load of people in suits, most likely the surviving non-military personnel of the fortress were huddled behind them. Overall, they numbered about fifty or sixty.

"I think we're going to have to make two trips." Okida remarked. There was no way the Icarus could hold this many people.

"Lieutenant Milford, Mantis Division." Their commanding officer, they gathered, introduced himself with a salute. Through his helmet they could see his face. He had well defined cheek bones and a thin nose. His hair was black and hug over his face in strands. He appeared to be in his thirties.

"Former Captain Topaz." She introduced herself in return.

"Topaz?" One of the soldiers nearby repeated. "Holy Christ, Lieutenant, they're the crew of the Blue Typhoon!" There was a murmur of chatter of the communication links between everyone there.

"Fame…" Okida muttered. "Who needs it?" Emerl just shrugged.

"As you can imagine, your arrival couldn't have come a minute too soon." Their Lieutenant told them. "These are all the survivors we could find. The rest either died in the attack itself or were lost to space."

"How many?" Topaz asked.

"About 65 including me and my men. The rest are mostly technicians and maintenance workers." She glanced around at all those behind the Sergeant. A couple of them were in suits that didn't seven fit properly, meaning there had been a scramble for them before the air ran out and the vacuum seeped in. "We lost contact with everyone else after the blast hit Giant Wing and we've not had any updates since then." They could see a smile spread beyond the helmet. "But hey, since you're here that must mean we won right?" Neither of them replied. "Right?"

"We'll talk about all that later." Okida stated. "Why did you lock the door? Where they any Confederates in the fortress?" Milford was quiet for a moment, as if deciding whether to answer or pursue his original question. He eventually relented.

"One of their ships crashed into us. A few of them tried to take the fortress. We thought they all got killed when the air ran out, but we couldn't take any chances."

"Yeah, so sorry about the opening fire thing." One of the soldiers added sheepishly.

"It's a good thing you managed to send a signal or we might never have found you." The sergeant and the nearest solider exchanged a puzzled glance.

"Signal?" Milford asked sounding confused. "What signal?"

"The S.O.S signal we picked up." Topaz put in. The soldiers just looked at her confused. "You did send an S.O.S didn't you?" Milford shook his head.

"Not us." Okida was not most confused. If they didn't send the signal then who did? Apparently, Topaz was wondering the same thing.

"Emerl, bring up that map Chuck downloaded for us again" Emerl's eyes lit up, projecting a light image onto the nearby wall. The signal was definitely coming from this room, at the far end from where they were now. Okida flipped on the lights on his suits helmet and glanced in that direction.

"Everyone we've got is right here." Milford added. "There's just a load of storage containers for the Mech depots over there." Okida forged a frown and then walked off.

"Hey where you going?" Topaz called after him.

"I'll check it out. You get these guys organized for an evac." He called back.

"Don't over do it." Her tone was patronizing. "You're not super-man and you DID collapse a short while ago." He glanced back over his shoulder. "And don't give me that healing quicker crap. You do something stupid like jump and you'll tear the flesh off your bones." Okida just waved her off in reply and continued on. "Cocky bastard."

Walking through the large crates stacked up either side, a strange sense crept over Okida. A growing excitement he couldn't explain, a sense of anticipation; as if something very significant lay nearby waiting for him.

"Should be about here." He muttered to himself, glancing up. Above him was the bottom of a lift. This would lift the containers up into the Mech pits for the maintenance teams to work on. This was the storage area below.

According to the map, the signal was coming from… he glanced to his left. Right here.

The crate there was standing on its own and was a great deal taller than the others, standing so tall it brushed the ceiling. Whatever this contained had to be a good head and shoulders taller than a Yahger Mech. It was G.U.N's insignia engraved into the metal on the side. It also had the words; 'Military-Priority-Technology' printed in red underneath.

Reached over, he tapped the side of it. There wasn't any reply, dispelling his first thoughts of someone hiding inside. There wasn't any control pad to open it and the riveting job looked like this was a blast casing, meaning that it was a permanent covering to protect the thing inside and could only be removed with a deal of force.

Under normal circumstance, Okida would have chosen to leave this where it was. Something at the back of his mind told him that he simply couldn't do that. His gut was telling him this had to be opened.

"Topaz…" He began through his com-link. "I've got a package to bring back."

* * *

---

With almost four hours passing since the shuttle went beyond the Blue Typhoon's sensor and communications range, all those on board had been waiting with figurative breaths held until finally a blip appeared on the radar screen.

"ID code confirmed, it's them." Chris stated with a thick smile with his hands running over the console pad. "Communications open; this is Blue Typhoon calling Icarus. Come in Icarus." There was a garble of static for a moment but eventually an holographic re-laid image appeared before them.

"This is Icarus; we have confirmation of survivors." It was Okida at the ships help. Behind them they could see Topaz, Emerl and a good many people in space suits. The smile on Chuck's face broadened at the sight.

"How many?" Chris asked.

"Just over sixty according to the Lieutenant we found." The major added glancing back over his shoulder. "We couldn't pick them all up at once so we're having to make two trips. Once we've unloaded this lot we'll have to go back for the rest."

"I don't see Sonic with you." The boy said, observing hide nor hair of the blue hedgehog.

"No he's still back at the wreck. Hare's with the remaining survivors and Sonic's scouring the ship for supplies and salvage." The vampire bat smiled grimly. "Topaz made him do it."

"Good I could use the salvage to repair Omega's arm." Chuck remarked folding his arms

"Any injured?" Chris asked.

"A few. One has a broken arm; a few with intense bruising, concussions and some have laser rifle burns."

"Uncle Sam'll be waiting for you with some medical kits for the worst cases. We'll just have to get the others to our sick bay."

"You certainly took your sweet time getting here." Was Bark's almost callous statement, the polar bear had gotten very gruff lately and it was beginning to wane of peoples nerves.

"Hey, sorry to be so long but we're heavy in the net."

"Those people shouldn't weight that much." Bean remarked giving the collection of space suits behind the major a glance.

"It's not them I'm going on about." He replied with an amused smile from behind his helmet. "Have the hanger bay readied to receive a little present, oh and Bean I'll be needing you down there as well." The duck blinked in surprise.

"What for?" He asked

"Just bright some plastic explosives and you'll see." The major added before discontinuing transmission.

"Whatya suppose that's about?" Chuck asked. Chris just shrugged before entering the command to open the shuttle doors into the hanger bay.

Approaching the ship, the Icarus retracted its sails and slowed to match the drifting speed of the Blue Typhoon. When it was level with the hanger door, they slid open and the mechanical arms used to launch it descended down. They took hold of the shuttles wings and once they had a good grip, began to retract themselves inside dragging the Icarus in with them.

According to the sensor readings, the Icarus shuttle was now over three times its normal weight. Either Okida had brought back something other than the survivors, or one of them had really let themselves go. Once pressure and atmosphere had been restored to the hanger bay, the Icarus was let drop onto the floor with a short thud.

"What is that?" Sam Speed asked, sighting a large metallic container strapped to the underside of the shuttle. It was longer than the shuttle itself and attached to the underside with long metal ropes.

"Must be what he wanted the plastic explosives for." Bean replied; his bag of tricks already at his side; a sack with the words '**_highly dangerous, keep out of reach of children'_** printed on the side. As soon as the shuttle doors were open a steady stream of people in space suits began to move out. Taking off their helmets their conversations range on what it was like to breath outside of the suits again.

"We lost?" Milford looked stunned, awed and horrified all at once. "After all that preparation, all that training… they just walked right over us?"

"We might have put up a better fight if Eggman hadn't been himself." Topaz stated, following the last of the soldiers down the ramp from the shuttle. "But we can worry about all that later. Right now we should be concentrating on the more immediate objectives."

"Like finding out where we are and how we get back." Okida added in. Milford followed them down, his head hung low. This was crushing news for him. He had kept everyone he managed to rescue from killing each other by using the possibly of victory to improve moral. So much so he had started believing it himself.

"Hey major what's the deal with this thing?" Bean asked up as Okida removed his helmet, his head fur all messed up.

"Don't know. But the signal we followed coming from inside." The major replied. "Can't find any door knob either, or we'll just have to blast our way in." A short psychotic look passed over Beans face. "A short blast." Okida added, throwing water on that fire before it got out of control. "Just enough to get it open, there may be someone in there unconscious."

Once the crate had been detached from the shuttle and the Icarus itself moved, it took Bean less than a minute to set up the plastic explosives and another two to attach the wires and detonator.

"Making things go boom is an art form." He announced when he realized he was getting impatient looks. "A true professional doesn't just light a fuse and run."

"Just get it open." Topaz remarked callously. Bean went backwards a few steps, laying out the wire before tying the ends to the remote detonator.

"Alright fine, your wish is my command." Were his words with a grim smile upon his beak. "You may want to get down." He added before pressing the large red button. A loud buzzing followed, preceding a loud bang and fragments of metal from the container flew off in different directions. Okida and Topaz had to duck to avoid being hit. "I did warn you."

There was a moment of silence and the container remained erect, then simultaneously all four sides began falling away. Each one hit the hanger bay floor at the same time, the echoing thud shaking the ship even as far as the angry core. Released dust from inside spread out in a thick cloud, preventing anyone from seeing what was inside.

"Phew!" Bean called out, wafting the air in front of his nose. "What is that smell?" Okida sniffed the air himself. It was a scent he was familiar with.

"Oil." He said. "The kind they use for lubricants in Mech arsenals." The dust began to clear and a shape began to form. A shadow in the gloom, towering over them

"Is that a…" Topaz began but the words died in her throat as the dust began to thin. Taller than any Mech any of them had ever seen before, this new machine was a battle titan in its own class and its very form screamed this with tremendous force.

Unlike any other walker, it was humanoid; with arms legs, a torso and a head. Coated in blood red anti-ballistic armor, the G.U.N icon branded onto the outside edge of each colossal arm.

Articulated hands with fingers with parts around the size of a trash can. The head was long, arching back over the back, the barrel of a revolutionary laser cannon sitting above the eyes in the head. The face was a curved sheet of metal..

On both shoulders was a particle shield generated, concealed by armored metal designed to pull open like a flowering plant. Directly in the centre of the chest on both sides were two vents for a propulsion system the major had never seen.

Parts of the armor on the legs were missing and attachments for thrusters on the back were present with nothing else for them to hold. This showed that the unit was still incomplete. One of them arms was even missing part of the armour platting across the wrists revealing the hydraulics that moved the hand.

Staring into the aqua blue eyes on the head of this new machine, Okida was struck by inspiration he thought he lost. He could feel his heart beating hard in his chest just by looking at this magnificent machine.

This was different from all the other Mechs he had laid eyes on. Far different. Different in ways he could only fathom at.

It was almost as if he was looking at himself from another perspective, an intense feeling of displacement rippled through him like the disturbed surface of an ocean. He couldn't even hear Topaz calling his name; he was that far away.

From somewhere, somewhere unknown; a name came flooding into his mind.

Looking up at this metal giant, a single word passed the vampire bats lips;

"Diablon."


	9. Episode 5, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO GO GO GO, LET'S GO!

Episode 5: Diablon, The ultimate machine?

* * *

-

With so many people now on the Blue Typhoon, the already tired crew had been pushed to their physical limits to treat the many wounded. As the ship only needed a crew of twenty or so there was plenty of room for them, but food supplies, it soon became clear, would not last long when their population had ballooned to over sixty.

Sonic remained onboard the ruins of Giant wing, exploring the wreck for anything that might prove useful. Spare food, materials to repair the ship; even fuel for the back up combustion engines; at least until the conduits to the Master Emerald could be replaced.

"Our present situation is this." Chuck began to Lieutenant Milford. "We are lost, putting it bluntly, in some region of space. We haven't enough food to last for all of us and we're in desperate need of repairs."

"Up creek without a paddle."

"Pretty much. With the latest nano-tech running the ship we don't have to worry about running out of air any time soon though."

"It's not a great comfort." The man stated with his head hung low. "Your hedgehog friend is still on the Giant Wing?"

"Yes, He and a few others are still there checking for supplies." Chuck replied glancing out the window to the stars and the debris still floating around it. "They sent a message back saying there should be enough food to last us for a while; but unless we find some other source soon we're going to be trouble." He looked back. "You took your injuries down to the medical bay?" The Lieutenant nodded.

"Yeah; a few had to be stitched up but they'll be alright." His frown deepened. "But I'm more worried about the others. Morals going to be naturally low but they're all standing around with nothing to do. My captains already had to break up several punch ups."

"I take it you want to keep them occupied?"

"That's the idea." Chuck paused to sigh and looked thoughtful.

"Most of the works is usually done on the ship by automation; it was created along with Eggman after all. There aren't that many jobs to get on with." His eyes lit up. "But, we do have need for some pilots and labors to get the supplies from Giant Wing over here. Not to mention technicians to help with the repairs on the ship."

"That'll do for a while but what we really need is a long term plan." Chuck managed a short chuckle and leaned back in his chair.

"We've been so long without one of those its lost definition."

The doors to the bridge swung open and Bean came running in. The duck was out of breath and before saying anything had to pause to catch his breath before he said anything.

"Hey Chuck, we… we need you down…. down in the hanger bay." The old Thorndyke raised a shaggy eyebrow.

"What for?" Bean paused again to catch his breath. It had been a long jog from the storage areas of the ship and the bridge and internal communications was currently being tweaked for bugs by Chris.

"Okida's got a new toy he needs you to have a look at."

By now a crowd had gathered in and around the hanger bay, all of them coming to stare at the metal giant that stood directly in the centre. As military personnel they were all used to seeing Mechs, but this was unlike anything any of the others before it. Catwalks had been suspended along with some scaffolding to keep the machine from toppling over. A few of the technicians were at the base of the Mech, some of them helping the Major with his work.

"Okida just what the heck do you think your doing?" Topaz asked, calling up angrily to the pair of leathery wings stretched out from the shoulder of the metal titan.

"Finishing the construction, what does it look like?" He asked back without looking, his hands working at the oily metal hydraulics around the neck of the colossal machine.

"We don't have the parts to spare." The former captain replied folding her arms with an annoyed look on her face. "Besides, you don't even know what this thing is."

"This is Diablon." A voice from behind her stated. Glancing back she saw the Lieutenant arrived through the crowds, leading Chuck through. "This is a prototype for a new line of walkers built using technology taken from both Doctor Eggman and the Black Arms." Okida already knew the name. The moment he had laid eyes on this machine, the name had been slammed into his head. "This is the original unit created by the G.U.N hardliners." Milford carried on. "The second unit, the production line is…" He stopped with a reluctant pause. "…. 'was' deployed to the G.U.N headquarters. It was still incomplete though, around fifty percent. I suppose it was used to defend their position there."

"But why? This one looks more complete than fifty percent." Topaz asked with raised eyebrows.

"This one has a problem." The Lieutenant replied looking up at it. "While both units were built using Black Arm technology, this was built when our understanding of their hardware wasn't as good as it is now. Too much of it is organic."

"Organic?" Chuck asked in startled amazement. "Are you telling me there's living biological material inside that thing?" The Lieutenant shrugged.

"I don't know that much. I only saw the report when they packaged it away. Apparently there's a software glitch in the control mechanisms. I don't know the details but because of it this unit was sealed up and left for later study." Okida wasn't listening; he was completely focused on the repairs. Everything else was completely blacked out of his mind.

Something had changed the moment he laid eyes on this machine. It was different from all others Mechs, that had been obvious at once. Beyond that however the former major saw something else. It was almost as if the metallic amour was a mere shell and its true form lay inside. Strangely Okida had been unsuccessful in finding a cockpit entrance.

Completing the construction work on the mech had given him some time to search and thus nothing. The thing clearly needed a pilot but there was no way inside.

"Hey Chuck." He called down towards the floor.

"What's the matter?" Prof. Thorndyke called back.

"What's left from the other Mechs?" Chuck blinked and scratched the back of his head.

"You want the spare parts?" He asked with raise eyebrows. Okida nodded.

"Something like that."

"Well the Albatross is ruined, all that hadn't been reduced to scrap are the wings. There are a few armament pieces from the Yeager and Nova and we're still stocked with ammunition."

"Great." Okida replied, sliding down the side of the metal giants arm to land on the top of the thumb on its right hand. "Have it all shipped in here and tell Sam I need his help with the construction." He waved down to Topaz. "Up to helping?" She just forced her face into a scorn and folded her arms.

"Fine. That way I can keep an eye on you." At the very least she wanted to prevent him from harming himself any further. Mobians might heal faster than humans did but he was still recovering from some nasty injuries.

Anxious for something to do quite a lot of the people they rescued from the wreck helped out shipping the damaged Mechs from one hanger bay to the other, technicians assisted in the removal of the working parts from the damaged shells and one by one they were laid out ready for adaptation.

Working without the machine's original blue prints was trouble enough but Okida now wanted to make his own modifications to this combat mech. The wings of the Albatross were attached to its back and rigged up to the electronic control system. Without access to the cockpit it was impossible to tell if they were accepted but Okida knew that they were, something he couldn't explain telling him.

This mech was not built for artillery combat but there were other kinds of projectile weapons within the frame. The laser built into its head was the most obvious one, but the triangular objects on the end of each shoulder housed another type of weapon system. Okida didn't know its nature but it had to be a quite powerful. From the look of the wiring it was drawing a lot of energy from the power pack. Once the new pieces of armour from the Yeager were in place, they were spray painted red to match the rest of it.

Okida stood back to examine it now complete to his own vision.

With the wings attached at the back it almost resembled a metallic angel. All the armour was in place and it gleamed in the light from above.

"Nice." Topaz remarked looking up. "Now do we get into the thing?" Okida hesitated.

"A strange aura surrounds this machine." A voice at their side stated. Both Okida and Topaz jumped to the side startled, seeing Rei standing there beside them. "There's a willpower inside, currently dormant under the metal skin." His face depended into a frown and he began to walk forward towards the base of the steal giant. "It wants a pilot." The flying squirrel said once he stood at its feet. He glanced back at Okida fixing him with a stare. "And you can feel that too can't you?" Okida himself said nothing. He just went over himself and stood with Rei at the feet, looking up at it.

As if possessed of it's own will, his hand reached out and gently touched the side of the metallic armour. The instant his palm pressed against it a circle of blue light panned out with a loud but soft hum. The eyes of the Diablon glowed soft blue, before the machine started moving on its own. It broke through the scaffolding around it as it took a step forward, the ground shaking as it did. The technicians scattered shouting in alarm as the Mech dropped down to one knee.

The armour on its chest plate began pealing back layer by layer, slanting to the side like slabs before a hole was opened to a circular cockpit within.

Chuck gave an impressed whistle as the lights within the pilots area lit up, revealing the entire chamber. There wasn't any seat, only an area to stand up in.

"What kind of technology is this?" Topaz asked staring in surprise at the surface of the inside. It looked like dozens of twisting metal wines snaking together and then melted into a singular surface.

"A merging of Black Arm genetic engineering and Eggman Empire Nano-technology." Okida stated taking a step forward towards that opening. "It's both a machine and a life form."

"Hey what do you think your doing?" Topaz called out as he began climbing into it, hoisting himself up into the strange cockpit. "You don't know how to pilot something like this!" The former major just shrugged.

"Never too late to learn." Once he was completely inside, the layers of armour flooded back over him sealing him inside the machine. Once the securing was complete, Okida felt gravity self dramatically towards the floor of the cockpit rather than the floor of the hanger bay outside. "Spiffy." Okida muttered tapping his feet as he stood at a strange angle. Suddenly two tentacle like limbs with a metallic surface but twisting like vines descended out of the ceiling and stopped at waist level, two pads just large enough for his palms forming like leaves on a plant. "So this is your control system huh Diablon?" He asked, before reaching out and placing both hands on the panels. "Well let's see…" For a brief moment nothing happened, and then both of them started glowing bright neon blue. "Holy!" That was all he managed before his mind was thrown out and expanded beyond the conceptions of three dimensional reality.

"Head's up, it's moving again!" One of the technicians cried out as the Diablon stood erect, the top of its head nearly scrapping the ceiling. The wings behind the colossal machine spread out either side, spreading like the feathers of the wings of an eagle. The eyes were glowing a powerful neon blue.

"Okida, what are you doing?" Topaz called her up, but it was more than apparent that her calls went unheeded.

The Diablon just stood there as silent as a statue, towering high above them like a titan. The articulation on this machine was far more advanced than any other G.U.N mech. It had the almost perfect anatomy of a human; even the hands were perfectly sculpted and moved with intense precision as if it had a mind.

"Incredible." Rei muttered in awe. "The aura of the two conjoined minds is unlike anything I've ever sensed before."

"Conjoined, what are you talking about?" Topaz demanded, but the flying squirrel didn't answer. Diablon turned to face the large hatch that barred the vacuum of space from inside the hanger bay. Staring off as if its attention had been drawn by something.

"Topaz, Grandpa; we've got trouble up here!" Chris' voice began loudly over the intercom.

"What's going on?" Chuck asked.

"Sensors are up and running now, so guess what? We've got incoming hostiles!"

* * *

-

Salvage operations on the wreck of Giant Wing were slowing to a crawl. Most of the food that was still sealed was already set aside for them to ship back when the Icarus returned. Right now, their priority was to find replacement parts for the Blue Typhoon's engine. Their power source, the Master Emerald, could satisfy all their energy needs included their jump drive; but was unable to do so with conduits to ferry is power to and from the thrusters. When Tails and Eggman designed that ship, the conduits had been purpose built for that very task so it was unlikely they would find exactly what they were looking for.

Still, something in the nature of would do just as well.

"Hey Vector, this is fun!" Charmy had tuned the magnets on his boots off and was floating freely through the scared metal corridors. "I can fly without using my wings, this is way cool."

"Get back down there you idiot!" The crocodile snapped, dragging the youngster back by grabbing his leg before he could float off. "This ain't some jungle-jim; you scratch that suit you're wearing and bye, bye Charmy." The young bee wasn't listening. He was having far too much fun in zero gravity to be concerned with such tedious aspects.

"Most of the lower decks are crushed." Espio stated, his own suit rather uncomfortable as they hadn't been designed with his frill and horn in mind. "This is the lowest we can go."

"Then we make one last check to see if we missed anything." Vector replied. He gestured off down one corridor. "Espio, you and Rei go that way. Charmy and I will go this. We'll meet back here in ten minutes with whatever we can find."

"Roger." The chameleon replied and him and the flying squirrel made for the darkness of the corridor, the torch lights in their helmet lighting the way.

"Right kid, this way." Vector began, pulling Charmy away along with him. "And pay attention. It's dangerous here."

"Well if it's so dangerous, **_Mr.knowitall_**, then why did you ask me to come?" The young bee asked making a pouting face.

"'Cause I need the extra pair of hands and Beck's busy back at the ship." Vector stated loudly. "Now come on, let's just get this over with so we can…" Before he could finish, the ground beneath their feet shook and trembled. The metal around them groaned under stress from the shockwave, several support beams bending to near breaking point. Pieces of Giant Wing broke off and floated away into the void, blackened by the scorching remains of laser fire.

"Hey what the hell was that?" Sonic demanded; picking himself back up off the floor as the shaking died down. His question was answered when the entire wreck trembled once more as it received another bombardment. Several Confederate attack ships had picked their presence up on their instruments and were striking the half concealed Icarus shuttle with laser blasts.

The ships were small in number, but catching them without warning they were able to do fantastic damage. There were three smaller fighter vessels and a carrier. The carrier itself soured off to finish the partly stranded Blue Typhoon, spreading its wings out either side revealing a multitude of weaponry.

The others sped in towards the wreck, passing by they struck it hard with blasts across the already damaged hull.

Hare was at the Icarus' controls when the attack began. Quickly he forced the shuttle into the wreck as far as it would go and used Giant Wings carved skin as a shield. It quickly began obvious that their target was the shuttle itself. If it was allowed to be destroyed, those on the wreck would be stranded there with no way back to the ship.

Sonic knew that while in space, in this protective suit, he was effectively useless. His speed meant nothing in an environment with no friction. There was nothing he could do but watch as the ships soured back and forth, taking pot shots at the shuttle. They were going to get lucky at some point.

The Blue Typhoon had no weapons, hardly any protective shields and the power system on the Fritz. They wouldn't last five minutes.

As the Carrier neared the defenceless ship, it readied all weapons and prepared to fire.

"I've seen this Star Trek Episode…" Bean began with sweat matting his feathers as he watched the ship get larger as it neared.

Before it could fire the laser cannons on the underside of its wings, a red blur shot out of the void and slammed straight into it. The entire vessel tilted to the side and the shots missed the Blue Typhoon by mere meters.

"What is that?" Chris began staring out at the shape now floating between them and the Confederate ship. A humanoid giant, covered completely in red armour; a pair of large eagle shaped wings spread out either side. A mechanical knights wing angelic wings. Light reflected off the surfaces, giving the machine a glowing outline. The eyes glowing soft neon blue; a glow that seeped slowly out into the darkness of space. A pair of fists clenched either side with a loud metallic ringing.

Chris and Bean just sat there staring at it in a mixture of awe and utter confusion. A moment later, Topaz and Chuck blundered out onto the bridge just in time to see the Diablon spread its arms before rocketing forward with a huge metallic fist drawn back.

"Okida get back here!" Topaz yelled, slamming her hand down on the com system controls. The only reply was static. The Diablon dodged around the streams of laser fire the ship fired after it, its wings behind it beating like those of a bird. In battle it had the poetic motion of an angel; the wings spread out wither side dipping with each beat that propelled it along. As it passed by the Confederate carrier, its head snapped to the side and the armour above its skull pealed back revealing the laser. A focused beam of burning light lanced forward, slicing through the ships armour like a knife. An entire wing was ripped from the side and without the balance the Confederate vessel tipped to the side threatening to spiral out of control.

Okida could feel his heart beat rocketing up, his skin perspiring like mad and his eyes dilating. His breathing was laboured and blood was beginning to gather on his lips. Everything was screaming at him to stop, telling him that the perfect union with this machine was draining his body beyond his ability to endure. He simply didn't care.

Lasers were fired from the ship and before they struck, the shoulder pads on the Diablon opened up like a flow bud opening revealing two large metallic spires. As soon as they were out in the open they started glowing golden orange, a particle projected shield forming around the mech. The laser blast simply melted into the barrier, dissipating before it even came close to landing a mark.

"What is that?" The captain of the carrier demanded. There was no record of this machine in their databanks. He had thought these simply to be Com-Fed stranglers, but what if he had inadvertently blundered into the testing of one of their new weapons?

"No match to anything on record sir." One of the subordinates replied. "Damage sustained to the drive system. Weapon's efficiency down forty percent."

"Call back the fighters." The captain ordered. "And contact the rest of the fleet. Inform them of our position and …" Before he could finish, the Diablon flew forward with wings spread out. With a giant metal hand, it grabbed the ship's hull and began to tighten the fingers into a fist; twisting the vessel open like a sardine can. The vacuum of space tugged with it and pieces of the inside of the ship began to float out into the abyss.

The ships lasers fired at point blank range, this time scouring a direct hit against the shoulders forcing the Diablon to back off. Once some distance had been achieved, the wounded vessel fired a multitude of laser barrages directly into the mech; trying desperately to inflict some damage. The Diablon tried to raise its shield, but as it did the barrage struck its shoulder pads and the particle intake needed to maintain the barrier stopped.

Its best defence rendered inoperable, the mech switched tactics; using its wings to fly to the side at rapid speeds to avoid the intense barrage. Okida felt like his heart was about to explode the way it was beating, but he kept going all the same. The machine around him, this union of flesh and metal was whispering to him; in a form of communication he did not understand. It was trying to tell him something and the more he fought, the clearer the message became.

The recalled fighter ships was souring right towards him, abandoning their chase of the shuttle hiding in the wreck for more lively prey. As soon as they were within range they opened fire, a dozen more streams of laser fire flying forward the Diablon; the machine doing a back flipped to avoid being struck.

As one of the fighters tried to fly back, the mech lashed and grabbed it. The metal fist clenched around the ship and it exploded in its grasp. The remaining three flew on past, did a u-turn and fired on the machine while it had its back to them. The barrage hit the mech hard and it slumped forward, pieces of charred metal flaking off its body. The sudden lurch nearly sent Okida into shock and with sheer will, forced himself to remain conscious and in control of his actions.

Through this wonderful machine he felt like he could see everything. The universe was before him and its mysteries were slowly becoming familiarities. But the overall message this machine was trying to convey eluded him.

"What are you trying to tell me?" He demanded. The metal and organic substances around him did not reply.

"He's getting pounded out there." Chuck declared as the light show light up the bridge. "There's got to be something we can do." Chris shook his head.

"Weapons systems are still offline." He slammed both fists on the panel in front of himself angrily. "What a time to be handicapped!" Topaz just stood there watching with dawning horror on her face as laser strikes bombarded the Diablon relentlessly. It had taken a great deal of punishment already and there was no telling just how much more it could take before it folded. Small pieces of it were already being torn off.

"Okida…" She began almost silently to herself.

"Critical failure in twenty seconds." A stylized voice stated and it was about then Okida knew he was in trouble. He couldn't move the Diablon's limbs or even its propulsion system. He just needed the barrage to let up for a moment, but the Confederates weren't going to let him get the opportunity.

He had almost resigned himself to the grave, when an intense laser barrage lanced out of the abyss and torn through the Carrier ship as if it were made on confetti. The vessel exploded in a dazzling display of light. The fighter ships were thrown into a state of utter confusion by this and were picked off one by one as the barrage came again, tearing their ships to pieces within the space of a single moment.

"What the hell?" Chuck declared looking stunned. "Chris, I thought you said the weapons weren't operational?" Chris looked as confused as his grandfather.

"They aren't." He replied glancing out into the space just beyond the window. "We didn't fire that blast." Sonic and Chaotix watched from the wreck of Giant Wing as through the smouldering wreckage of the Confederate ship's, came a shape slowly sliding into existence. A gigantic vessel, well of five times the size of their own. Triangular shaped, with dozens of light twinkling all the way up to the spire at the top. It was dome shaped, with a rounded upper half and a set of thrusters at the back. Dozens of small ships, probably about half the size of the Typhoon itself, came with it like a shoal of fish.

They all had a similar shape to the Confederate vessels they had seen, but had a slightly different design with no protruding wings and larger thrusters at the back.

"Who the heck are these guys?" Bean asked staring at the fleet of ships as they came to a stop just within sensor range. The communications console bleeped loudly as if in response.

"Incoming transmission." Chris announced, before opening his end of the line. A holographic display window appeared hovering above the floor behind them. It was formless for a moment as it made its way through the static. Eventually the image solidified and they were left staring at the face of a bird like creature. It was covered in blue feathers and had a small yellow beak. It was wearing a green military style uniform but of a sort none of them had ever seen before. The creature itself looked mobian, but currently there was no mobian species of bird that looked like that.

"This is Captain Alexander of the colony ship Scimitar." It announced speaking in laboured English, as if struggling to pick up the words correctly. "Ranking officer of the Combined Federation of Interstellar States. I am responding to a distress signal broadcast in this sector."

Okida released his grip on the control pads in front of him, finding his hands going numb as they did so. He couldn't feel himself all the way up to his shoulders, as if his limbs had been sliced off.

He had been so close to understanding just what the Diablon had been trying to tell him, but his body couldn't take the physical punishment. His muscles were straining and snapping, his bones twisting out of their usual positions under the enormous stress. Slowly and with a great deal of effort, he looked up to see the Blue Typhoon floating nearby. The new ship was drifting closer towards it. Okida just smiled.

"Must be… that federation the Black Arms told us about." He muttered to himself, his gaze drifted back to the Blue Typhoon itself. He could feel her scornful gaze from here. "Sorry Topaz. You were right. I guess I really don't take care of myself." Was all he managed to utter, before he doubled over and vomited blood all over the cockpit floor.

His consciousness whirled; everything went dark and his legs giving way underneath him.


	10. Episode 5, part 2

"The Combined Federation of Interstellar States, or Com-Fed for short, was first formed in response to the threat of invasion from the Confederate Fesonians over five hundred of your years ago." Chuck had not moved a muscle since the lecture had begun. He sat there like an attentive child, nodding occasionally as he stared in wonder. "It is currently the faction holding the majority of territory within this spiral arm of the galaxy." The lecturer was Captain Alexander, the captain of the Colony ship which had come to their rescue. The Blue Typhoon had been taken onboard the massive dome shaped vessel and was undergoing repairs. Chris stood nearby glancing out the window at the strange hanger bay around the ship. This ship was massive. It wasn't as large as the Black Arm mother ship they had encountered two years ago, but was large enough to enclose the Typhoon completely.

Their friends had been retrieved from the wreck of Giant Wing and the fleet of ships was now making its way out of the debris field and into clear space.

"Faction holding the most territory?" Amy Rose asked. "Just how many factions are there?" Alexander resembled a mobian bird, but the proportions of his body were all wrong. He was a great deal taller and had scaly legs while mobian birds had feathered ones. His arms were longer as well and still bordered on being wings. He waved off to the side with a single arm and a holographic display appeared next to him. Dozens of star systems and planets were shown at once, nebulas and asteroid belts forming before their eyes. It was a map, a map of two spiral arms of the galaxy.

Different coloured lines lanced from place to place, dissecting the entire map up into various areas.

"We are here." He pointed to the red outlined area in the bottom right hand. It lay directly beneath the nothingness between the spiral arms of the galaxy which as marked as; the 'Bad Lands'. A small dot appeared to indicate the present location of the ship in relation to the rest of the universe. "On this side of the badlands, three factions hold the most power. One is the Federation itself." He gestured to another of the marked territories. "Another is the Falcon Admiralty." This territory was a great deal smaller than that of the Combine Federation's.

"Falcon Admiralty?" Chuck repeated. "Who are they?"

"One might say my kin." Alexander replied. "I am myself a Falcon. We herald from our sanctuary, the world referred to as Roc."

"One species rules all that?" Prof. Thorndyke looked a little stunned.

"This is nothing compared to some others." Alexander assured him with a flat expression. "Next is the Kingdom of Merchants." The third and final section had enough territory within it to rival the size of the Combine Federation's and was outlined in blue. "They aren't much of a faction as such, a simple traders union acting as a Government."

"Who do these things belong to?" Hare asked, jabbing a large finger at the two huge sections of territory on the far side of the badlands divide.

"You're looking at the official territory of the Confederate Fesonian Empire." Alexander replied looking at it sadly.

"They…they own this much?" Chuck looked amazed at it. The two sections had to be twice the size of the Federation's in themselves and when combined they owned that entire spiral arm.

"They 'conquered' that much." Alexander corrected him. "They are professional occupiers. They have subjugated thousands of races and now seek to do the same to us." He glanced around at the rag tag crew that had assembled on the bridge of the ship, discerning all of them with a sceptical eye. "The ship's present state is enough evidence to say that you put up a fight with limited technology at your disposal. You must have known that you didn't stand a chance. Not against an entire attack fleet."

"And just what where we supposed to do?" Amy demanded angrily, her hammer already in her grasp. "Just roll over and let them take control?" Alexander simply shrugged.

"They would have gone a lot easier on your planet if you had." The door to the bridge opened and Sonic walked in, the helmet of his space suit tugged under one arm. His quills were hanging behind him laden with the sweat that had gathered inside his suit. His green eyes were still burning with defiance.

"Sorry, rolling over like a whipped dog ain't our style." Alexander looked the hedgehog over, a puzzled expression passing over his features.

"I've seen you before someplace…" He stated thinking out load. Those features were defiantly familiar. The blue fur and quills, the green eyes and even the way the hedgehog stood. He had defiantly seen this being before. He glanced back to see a good deal of his own crew glancing in, staring at the blue one in amazement. They certainly recognised him and were in utter awe of it.

"Can you tell the fan club to knock it off?" The hedgehog asked without looking back, narrowing an eye at the captain. "I'm used to this sort of thing, but you see I've been in a real bad mood lately." Suddenly it hit Alexander and he just stood there as the information sunk in.

"You…. You're… you're…" He looked stunned. "You're Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"You guys know who Sonic is?" Chris asked.

"Know him?" Alexander asked without taking his eyes off the hedgehog even for a brief moment. "How could we not know the hero that did the impossible? How could we not know the being that destroyed the Destroyer?" He explained that Com-Fed makes a habit of studying radio transmissions that are beamed out into space by pre-galactic societies.

By chance they came across news transmissions from Earth and were able to watch as the fabled Destroyer was bested by this blue hedgehog and finally defeated once and for all.

Angrily, sonic lunged forward and grabbed the captain by the front of his uniform.

"If you guys knew all that, then why the hell didn't you come to help us when the Confederates invaded?" He had never been more frustrated in his life and was still brimming with anger.

"I don't question the orders of the higher ups." Alexander replied, brushing aside the hedgehog's fist. "All I know is that a decision was made not to intervene, but to fortify out own front lines for the Confederate force when it arrived to bring the fight to us." It was more than clear that it was taking every ounce of will Sonic had not to smash a punch directly into the Falcon's face. "But you have my condolences for your lost planet."

"It's not over yet." Sonic stated. "I'm going right back there to kick those guys out of our home." The captain chuckled, finding the idea funny. The hedgehog clenched and unclenched a fist, now more than ever tempted to really hurt him.

"You'll be facing an army of trained soldiers armed to the teeth, and they'll have entrenched themselves by now. Besides, you still have to cross a great deal of space behind enemy lines to even reach Earth. You people are light-years away from your home planet." A smirk crossed the hedgehog's face.

"Like you said; I've done the impossible before, haven't I?

* * *

-

The Diablon had stopped moving. It was simply floating through space completely inanimate. When it became clear that it either couldn't move under its own power or had been damaged to the same effect, one of the miner ships from the Com-Fed fleet went to pick it up.

The miners ships were like the larger colony vessel in shape but were far more streamlined and had a far wider wing span. A set of mechanical arms descended from underneath the ship as its shadow fell over the silent machine. The pincer clamped onto the arm and leg and pulled it aboard.

Eventually the miner returned the mech to the Scimitar colony ship, dropping the machine down in the main hanger bay next to the Blue Typhoon. Scorch marks from the Confederate attack lanced up and down the red armoured chest plate and down the arms. Dents from projectiles covered the wings and even the head had received a blow.

Topaz and Rei were already there waiting for it as the mech was dropping down. As if sensing them, it knelt down so the entrance to its cockpit was near the ground.

"That stupid idiot." Topaz snarled, still fuming with rage. "He just received a life threatening injury and then he goes out there to fight in this stupid thing?"

"You know, technically, he is your superior officer." Rei reminded her.

"Superior Officer or not he's going to get a piece of my mind!" She replied without looking back, fists clenched at either side. Her violet eyes were burning with fuming rage. Just what the hell was Okida trying to prove, that he had a death wish or something?

There was a sudden loud mechanical sound and the armour around the cockpit entrance began to peel back. Topaz set her face into the deepest scowl she could imagine and walked right up to the entrance. "Get out here you irresponsible jackass!" She declared punching the side of the Diablon to emphasise just how angry she was.

Rei blinked as he felt a wave of strong emotion came wafting out like a tidal wave, hitting him square in the face. A powerful sense of unendurable pain that sent shivers down his spine. Something was very wrong.

"Wait!" He called out to Topaz but she was already glaring up into the inside of the machine.

"Just what the hell are you…" Her words died in her throat as she set eyes on what lay inside. Something wet fell from the inside and onto her face. She whipped it off with her fingers and saw it was red in colour. A moment later, a mangled shape fell from the interior and crashed to the floor before her.

A bloody mess of fur and leathery wings, arms and legs out of position and all put into a horrific stance. "Okida…" She began almost in a whisper with horror spreading across her face. Barely touching the mess, she rolled it over and staggered back at the sight of Okida's face, his fur matted with blood. "You…. You stupid, stupid, STUPID IDIOT!"

The Scimitar had a better medical facility than the Blue Typhoon and the vampire bat was rushed there by Alexander's crew. They had advanced medical knowledge that Chuck simply had to stop and admire. They were easily able to put his limbs and most of the body parts back into position, sorting out the mangled mess he had ended up in. The blood he had lost didn't seem to be much of an issue either. They were able to replace it by exposing him to an overhead light.

When Chuck inquired about the device used from the Doctor overseeing the procedure, who looked remarkably human for an extraterrestrial being, she told him it was a regenerative energy source that was able to use the bodies own system to replaced whatever it had lost.

"But what I can't understand is how he got in such a state in the first place." The Doctor added as an afterthought. "It's was if the idiot was inside a tornado, the way his arms and legs were out of place. He's lucky his species has such an impressive healing rate or he may have been in trouble."

"It's saved not just his life, but half the people on our ship." Chuck replied scratching the back of his head. "Mobians seem to be made to take extreme physical punishment."

"It's to their credit." The Doctor replied as she brushed some of her long brunette hair out of her face. "I'm Alicia." She offered her hand forward. Chuck took it with a shake.

"Prof. Charles Thorndyke, but you can call me Chuck." She paused briefly when looked up towards the old man.

"I'm…I'm sorry to hear about your home world. You're not the only one to loss their home to the Confederate army." Chuck sighed and sat down in a chair nearby.

"It all happened so fast we didn't get a chance to put up a decent fight." His face set itself into a scowl. "And we could have fought them off; it hadn't been for that traitorous bastard Eggman." The Doctor looked up in surprise.

"You mean Doctor Eggman?" Chuck looked surprised.

"You know Eggman?"

"I know of him; he's the newest General of the Confederate Army; appointed by the Doom's Eye himself. According to Federation intelligence, he's to oversee technological growth for their military." Chuck sat there in silence for a moment before he started to laugh.

"Oh that's too ironic." He said with slumped shoulder. Alicia raised an eyebrow questioningly. "He betrayed us to become the master and now he's a stooge himself." Okida felt his consciousness bubbling back piece by piece to him and as soon there was enough of it to form coherent thought; he pushed a single eye open to survey his surroundings. Understandably, every inch of his body was pulsating with pain. It felt as if something had taken him apart and then put him back together again.

The first thing he saw was a pair of angry violet eyes staring down at him, intended malice clear in their stare.

"You… are the most foolish, idiotic, brainless person ever to grace this universe." Topaz hissed at him, before drawing her fist back and striking him with a hard slap across the cheek. Admits the other pain Okida didn't feel a thing physically but the emotional damage was severe enough. "That thing…that Diablon thing nearly ripped you to pieces!"

"Yeah, it's a rough ride alright." He replied in horse whispered as he turned back to look at her. "I discovered a bit too late that it takes a lot out of you."

"A lot out of you?" Topaz nearly screamed. "You were loosing buckets of blood when we got you here. You were at deaths door for Christ's sake!"

"My body wasn't used to the system it uses." Okida managed to reply. "If you were to pilot it, you would be directly linked to it. As if you and the mech literally become one. That's not a control system you can take lightly." Despite the pain in his shoulders he managed a shrug. "I'll get it practise I guess."

"Not a chance in hell." Topaz stated angrily. "That thing nearly killed you. There's no way I'm going to let you…" He reached up and placed a finger on her lips to silence her.

"I'm going to figure that machine out." He stated giving Topaz a smile. "I'm going to figure out 'why' it nearly killed me and get around it. I had nearly lost all purpose before Topaz, this is a mission I can't turn down." She stood there with conflicting emotion plain on her face. Then without a word she flung herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight bear hug.

"You stupid idiot." She uttered into his shoulder tightening her hug and refusing to let go. Okida sat there in bed for a brief moment, before he in turn put his arms around her.

"You guys must have been visiting Earth a lot to have so many humans here." Bean remarked to Alexander as the two of them observed the workforce tasked with the repair work on the Blue Typhoon. They all were, or had the appearance of being human. Alexander shot the duck a puzzled gaze.

"Been to Earth?" He asked sounding extremely confused. "What do you mean by that? The Combine Federation hasn't so much as set foot on that backwater planet." Bean scratched the back of his head.

"Then…where did you get these guys from?" He asked, gesturing to one of the workers from the Scimitar. They were working alongside the survivors they had rescued from the wreck of Giant Wing to restore the engine of the vessel. They were currently in the process of replacing the conduits from the engine itself to the Master Emerald.

"From various planets along the Falcon frontier." The captain replied. His eyebrows rose into an expression of realisation. "Of course, I'm forgetting what culture you come from." Bean's expression begged from him further explanation. "You see, the human species isn't native to your planet. One can find human colonies across this entire spiral arm. Their people thrive within most of known space." He turned to give the startled Bean a glance over. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask about your species."

"Mine?"

"You bear many of the physical traits that would mark you as a Falcon." Alexander explained. "But you are… mobian wasn't it?" Bean nodded. "It seems to me that perhaps the Falcon's and the Falcon-like mobians might share a common ancestor." Bean stood there thinking for a moment, suddenly something occurred to him and he looked up.

"If your people have never been to Earth and then why do you speak English so well?"

"To me, you sound as if you're speaking Falconese." The captain replied and showed that around his neck he was wearing a golden chain with a device hanging from it. It was rectangular in shape with a single button on it. "All officers and employees within Com-Fed are required to use one of these."

"What are they?"

"Translators. They alter brainwave perception, translating whatever is said into the primary language of the user. It bypasses all the nonsense involved in interspecies meetings." Bean looked a little stunned.

"This puny thing really works?" The duck asked poking the side of it sceptically.

"If it wasn't you've be hearing me speak like this." Alexander pressed the button on the device and cleared his throat. He then proceeded to speak in a language Bean had never heard before in his life. It sounded like bird chirpings rather than words and the duck found he could not recognise a single word. Once the demonstration was over, the captain pressed the button again. "See?" He asked in English.

"Incredible!" Someone else declared. Bean was thrust aside and Chuck took his place, marvelling the device. "How does the mechanism work?" He marvelled at the device so much it began to disturb the captain a little.

"I'm not sure, they just hand them out to staff."

"Grandpa, just what are you doing?" Chris asked wandering up.

"Chris you have to see this incredible device. This is technology I've been waiting all my life to see!" Prof. Thorndyke muttered enthusiastically. "This is unprecedented, a working piece of art!"

"If he always like that?" Doctor Alicia asked as she caught up with them. Chris nodded and slumped his shoulders with a sigh.

"Ah Doctor." Alexander began snatching his translator away from Chuck's eager grip and placing it back behind his shirt. "How's your patient?"

"He'll be alright providing he gets some rest." She replied. "He's lucky he belongs to such a resilient species."

Bark was impressed by the repairs done to the Typhoon. The conduits to the engine had been nearly completely replaced and they were already in the process of restoring the weapons and shields. Offers had even been made to outfit them with greater technological capabilities. It was clear that Com-Fed had a greater understanding of science than they did and were indeed in a position of making their ship both faster and far more well defended.

Bark however was slightly suspicious of this generous attitude. He wondered constantly why they would be so helpful, to complete strangers? What did they have to gain by repairing the Typhoon? Then again, what reason could they have for being deceitful?

Perhaps, Bark began to himself; he had simply grown a little paranoid. Given their current situation it was easy to do.

Deciding to continue busying himself so he had less time for distracting thoughts, he went to inspect the ship for whatever damage was left. The ships armour plating and the inside structure had been damaged in the battle, cracked floors and ceiling making where direct hits from Confederate ships had been scored. He made a mental note of each one as he passed by but found that without much mechanical know-how all he was doing was observing rather than helping.

Most of the people they had rescued from the wreck had remained on the Blue Typhoon, very few of them venturing out to see the inside of the Scimitar for themselves. That said, their curiosity had gotten the better of them and thick crowds had gathered against the windows of the canteen as Bark walked in.

Lieutenant Milford, the one of their number who had taken charge of their group as sat at a table nearby with a collection of papers in front of him. He seemed to be the only one of the sixty personnel on the ship not interested in the giant extra terrestrial vessel.

"Paperwork at a time like this?" Bark asked. The man glanced up at him.

"I've decided to keep myself busy." He replied looking back down at the papers in front of him. "All this stuff…" … He gestured towards the ship, implying that he was referring not just to the Scimitar but to their current situation. "Can be overwhelming so a little distraction can do wonders." The polar bear sighed in response and folded his large arms.

"Guess I can understand where you're coming from with that." He muttered almost to himself before glancing down at the papers the sergeant had on the table. "What are those?" He asked giving them a look over.

"I was able to talk that feathery Captain into letting me have these." Milford replied. "Since we're both fighting the same enemy, he gave me a print out of various bits of their intelligence information about the Confederates." He offered the first page to Bark, who took it up and held it closer to read the very fine print. It was written in English but clearly their translator had had a little bit of trouble and there were numerous spelling errors. "My brother once told me; the more you know about an enemy, the easier he is to defeat." Milford carried on. "I think partly the reason we lost was that we knew diddly-squat about the enemy we were fighting. Eggman's betrayal helped them out, but ultimately I think it was our ignorance that beat us."

As much as he was loathed to shift some blame away from the Doctor, Bark had to admit there was logic in what the sergeant was saying. The information contained within the first few lines was more than G.U.N's entire military force had been operating on.

According to this at least, the Confederate Fesonians had six attack fleets and four defender fleets. While their front line fighters engaged in skirmishes, their defenders patrolled their territory to protect it from incursions.

"Learn anything that might help us?" He asked.

"How to return to Earth or defeat the Confederates when we get there?" Milford asked glancing up along the rim of his nose.

"Either will be a blessing right now." The polar bear replied. The Lieutenant sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Well, from these I guess the first thing the Confederates will do with Earth once they squash all resistance is to fortify it into a stronghold. That is what Eggman said they would do with the planet isn't it?" Bark nodded. "The intelligence data here will give us some idea of what defences we'll be facing when we get there."

"'_If'_ we get there."

"Don't be defeatist."

Suddenly the entire Scimitar ship lurched to the side as if it was doing a sharp U-turn. Milford and thrown out of his seat and several others, Bark included, lost their footing and crashed to the floor. If the Blue Typhoon hadn't been clamped down to the enormous hanger bay floor it would have been thrown clear across it.

Okida had to grab Topaz by the arm to prevent her from falling off the edge of the bed in the medical bay.

Knuckles strained to push the Master Emerald back into position as it tipped dangerously close to the edge of the metallic emerald shrine replica in the Typhoon's energy core.

"Yippie!" Charmy declared as most of Chaotix had to hang onto the nailed down furniture for dear life. Vector tried to pull himself back up, but at that moment Rei lost his grip and fell backwards straight into the crocodile sending them rolling down into the far wall. "This is fun!"

"What the heck is going on now?" Bean asked as he pulled himself off the hanger floor.

"Attention this is the Captain speaking." Alexander's voice began into the air, talking throughout speakers scattered throughout the ship. "We have altered course. Our communications officer has just received confirmation that a Confederate transport ship is moving through this sector back to Fesonian friendly space. We are moving to intercept. All crew members take the necessary preparations for battle." The technicians from the Scimitar were suddenly in a blur, many of them making for the exits of the hanger bay dropping their various equipment and tools behind them.

Alexander watched from the bridge as their target neared. This was against protocol, but sensors and enemy communications chatter indicated that their target was a Confederate slave transport vessel.

If the Fesonian's had penetrated this deep into their territory than the colonisation mission was off. Rescuing the beings help captive on the vessel was of far greater importance.

"We'll be at intercept position within half an hour sir." The helmsman announced. Alexander just stared forward, his wings folded behind his back.

"Ready all weapons." He proclaimed. "All crewmen to their combat positions."

Sonic watched as the stars outside the window started to fly past at an increased velocity, showing that their speed had greatly increased.

-Earth is mine!- That was what the Doctor had confidentially claimed. Sonic could still remember each and every crease in Eggman's skin as he sneered those words.

"Not for long it won't be." The blue hedgehog found himself muttering.

The Confederate ship noticed them as they approaching from behind as soon as the large flat and circular vessel was within visual range; it started releasing dozens of round spherical objects in its wake.

"Space mines, fire barrage!" Alexander ordered and all the ships in his convoy opened fire, a thick stream of laser blasts flying forward. The mines began exploding before they could reach the vessels, but some of them were sneaking through the fray and were closing in. Judging by the explosions the others were making they could do a lot of damage if they hit the ships directly.

The smaller ships were swift enough to dodge around them, but being much larger the Scimitar was much slower and for a brief moment it seemed as if the mines might impact. Before they could, a beam of intense light flew out nowhere and struck each of them in turn; detonating them prematurely and before they were within range of the Scimitar. Metal Sonic kept firing his energy projectiles until the mines had been cleared from the ships path.

All the while the Confederate vessel sped on, hoping to use this momentary confusion to escape.

"Hard to starboard, all engines ahead full!" Alexander order and the Scimitar and the others ship sped after it. "Port barrage, target their engine emissions and fire!" Along the right hand side of the Scimitar, turrets rose up from hidden positions before firing streams of lasers. They missed the ship itself, but hit the ion emissions from their engines. These burnt with the abundant energy and the discharge sent a rippling shockwave through the ship, sending it tipping forward dangerously and it slowed down.

The Scimitars supporting ships were quick to surround the Confederate vessel in a tight circle.

"This is Alexander of the Com-Fed colony ship Scimitar." The captain announced to the fesonian ship as it floated there, now completely surrounded. "Surrender at once and prepare to be boarded." The Confederate ship had little choice in the matter. It was a simple transport vessel whose escort had abandoned it to be drawn into conflict elsewhere. It had no armaments save the space mines and they had already been used up. Within minutes the captain of the ship admitted defeat.

This ship was far different in shape from the vessels they had seen during the battle above the Earth. It was flat and shaped like a saucer, with long wings spread out either side.

"What is it?" Amy asked looking at it from the Scimitar.

"A Confederate slave transport ship." Alexander replied standing a short distance behind her. "Upon conquering a new world, common Confederation practise is to divide the native population in half. One half would remain to be the workforce on the planet and its regent, while the other half is transported back to their home world for slave labour." Amy glanced back at the captain, then at the ship as the smaller ships in the Com-Fed fleet made moves to begin docking. "A ship of this size can easily hold around 5000 people; despite its appearance it has space for that many." If the stories she had heard about the Confederates were true, then they had conquered many worlds. If they did this to each and every one of them, just how many slaves had they taken? How many slaves could they possibly need?

"Just where has this ship come from?" She asked, looking back over her shoulder slowly to meet the captain's steady stare.

* * *

-

Sonic kicked the door to the containment levels of the Confederate ship open and the sight beyond made him grimace with anger. Level after level inside this part of the vessel was filled with nothing but cells and cages, all of them stocked to near bursting point with both humans and mobians. The blue hedgehog's anger intensified with each step. Eggman had thrown in his lot with this? He had no idea what kind of mistake he had made.

As he walked amongst them, they reached out through the bars of their cells towards him; calling him by name; begging him to let them out. They hadn't needed to ask. Slowly, he held up a single hand and summoned the beginnings of his Sonic Wind attack between his fingers. Arching his arms back, the soft blue glow intensified before he cupped his hands and threw them forward. The clocking mechanisms were torn off each cell door as the swirling blue vortex tore its way down the corridors. The forced momentum threw the cell doors open and the prisoners nearly tumbled out. Their captors had clearly not been kind to them. Dozens, no, hundreds; had terrible bruising and many broken bones. Those who had resisted were in even worse condition.

Without even thinking about it, Sonic whirled around and grabbed the captain of the ship the soldiers from the Com-Fed had escorted down here. The hedgehog's hands clenched around the throat, threatening to break his neck in two.

"You bastards!" He snarled. "You think you can just do this to innocent people!" The captain struggled with the hands on his throat but Sonic was physically stronger than he was. "Let's see how you like it!" The soldiers tried to drag Sonic off, but the hedgehog refused to let go; his anger overtaking any rational judgement.

Without warning someone slammed a punch directly into Sonic's face, sending him flying down towards the ground. The blue hedgehog snapped up, to his utter dismay to find Chris standing there glaring down at him.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Sonic demanded pulling himself back up now with a bruise on his cheek.

"Gotten into me?" Chris asked. "What the hell's gotten into **_you_**? I don't know if you're even aware of it, but you were about to kill him!" Sonic glanced over towards the fesonian captain. He was kneeling on the floor struggling for breath. "I know you're angry Sonic. We all are, but if you of all people start loosing it then what hope is there for the rest of us?" The blue hedgehog looked back at the people from Earth they had just released. They were looking u pat him with confused eyes. Right then he realised what he had been moments away from doing.

"You're right." Sonic admitted with genuine remorse in his voice. "I'm sorry…I….I just saw red."

"You should go back to the Typhoon and get some rest." Chris sighed. "I'll deal with this. You just find some time to calm down." Sonic slumped his shoulders and walked past. He stopped by the fesonian captain.

He looked down at the reptilian alien and saw a guy like any other, someone just doing his job.

"I'm sorry." He uttered before leaving him to the Com-Fed soldiers to pick up. Chris watched the hedgehog go with a heavy heart. Even since they had first met, Sonic had been an example for him to model himself on. Someone who let the pressures in life wash over them. Apparently this situation had affected the hedgehog more than he was prepared to show.

"Chris… is that you?" Hearing a familiar voice, Chris turned to see the last people he expected to see.

"Danny? Francis?" He began almost in disbelief. His friends from his school days were there amongst the crowds of the liberated. Next to the dark skinned boy of now 16 was another of his old friends; Francis, a girl they had went to the same class with. In her arms was a blonde haired girl with sea blue eyes. "Helen?" Hearing her name called, the girl looked up. Her eyes were red from salty tears. She said nothing.

He hadn't had an opportunity to see her since the rise of the Machine Federation on Mars over two years ago. She had grown much in that time. Her hair was longer and tied back into a ponytail. She had several bloody gashes down his arms and on down the side of her left thigh. The injuries patched up with dirty rags. Chris just stood there comatose for what felt like an hour before he finally looked up into the faces of his three childhood friends.

"What happened?" He asked.

"They rounded us up." Danny muttered; his eyes fraught with heightened emotional anguish. "They took our folks away on a different transport. We got stuck in here."

"Your parents?" Chris asked, quite aware there was little need to ask. "They were sent back to be part of the slave workers?" Danny and Francis exchanged brief glances.

"Not all of them…" The red haired girl muttered in a weak voice. "Helen's parents tried to…" As if she hadn't the courage to continue she trailed off. She hadn't needed to. The tears in Helen's eyes were evidence enough.

Her parents were dead.

"She hasn't said a word since they threw her into our cell." Danny continued looking down at the girl Francis cradled almost like a child. "Because she can't walk, their soldiers were going to shoot her." His face twisted a little. "Guess they thought she was damaged goods or something. It was the slave traders that changed their soldier's minds." The emotions tearing through Chris' mind were a mixture of impotent anger and anguish. Tears began to form at the sight of the battered girl before him. He took another look at those who held her and saw the same emotions clear in their eyes.

There was a brief moment of silence, before all four of them met in a hug. Helen wrapped her arms around Chris and refused to let go.

"Man would you look at all this?" Beck muttered as Chaotix began the task of moving the people on the transport vessel and getting them onto the other ships ready to be shipped back to the Scimitar were proper medical attention could be given to the hundreds of them. The captain, Alexander, had requested it off them as most of his men were busy dealing with the Fesonian crew of the ship. None of them had had anything to eat for the past two days and the drinking water supplied was clearly contaminated.

"French, Russian, African…" Rei stated, noting the origins of the various prisoners out load. "And I think that one's an Eskimo."

"Plenty of our own guys too." Espio was quick to add, seeing the dozens of mobians cramped together in frightened small crowds. "Can those Com-Fed guys cope with this many?"

"Who cares if they can't?" Vector demanded without looking back as they passed by a long stretch of cells. "We sure as hell ain't leaving them here."

"Hey scales, fancy meeting you here." The voice was so familiar none of them had even had to turn to look to know who it was. In the cell to their right, sitting on the floor glaring up at them was a weasel with bright violet fur. A cowboy style hat sat at a slat on his head and he had a large belt around his waist. His tail had a kink in it at an almost ninety degree angle. Descended through his lips was a single sharp tooth with gave him his name; Fang the Sniper.

Or as they knew him; Nack the Weasel; the traitor.

His cell door was open but that did him little good. He was chained to the wall with his arms held high above him. Evidence of lashings was clear through his fur, thick scars blistering the skin.

"Behind bars Nack?" Espio asked, glancing up at the restraints placed around him, a glimmer of satisfaction in the chameleon's eyes. "Fitting."

"It's 'Fang' now." The weasel reminded them sourly staring at them from under the rim of his hat. "And are you going to just stand there or get me out of here?"

"Just standing here seems like a good idea to me." Vector replied smiling sadistically to show every one of his sharp teeth. "Better yet, why don't we carry on as if we never saw him guys?"

Charmy stuck in the tongue out and they made moves to simply walk past his cell.

"No wait!" Fang cried out, sounding slightly desperate. "Don't leave me in here!"

"Why shouldn't we?" Espio demanded giving him a side ways glance as they walked. Fang frantically searched his mind for legitimate reasons. Suddenly something came to light and he looked up.

"Because I know where your bunny girl is!" Vector stopped dead in his tracks. "Vanilla isn't it? Yeah… well she was rounded up with the rest of us, set on a different transport back to Confederate space or somethin'." The Weasel continued. "I heard them talking about its destination." The others stopped and looked back at Vector, seeing the unquestionable look of boiling anger burn within his dark orange eyes. "I'll tell you where, just let me out!"

"Vector…" Espio began slowly. Vector glanced down at the chameleon. Out of all of them, Espio had the most legitimate reason to hate Fang and leave him rotting here. The weasel had betrayed their agency and lead them into a trap laid by the mob some years back and a close friend of the chameleons, Mighty the Armadillo, had paid with his life to give them a chance to escape.

"It's your call Espio." The crocodile stated. Espio was completely silent for a single moment, before with a single swift gesture tossed a concealed throwing star through the air. It slammed into the manacles holding Fang's arms to the wall, slicing the chains and letting the weasel fall free.

"It's not revenge I want anymore." The ninja stated turning away. The Crocodile managed a brief smile and turned to face Fang, his face twisting into a darkened frown.

"Start talking weasel."

"Alright then…" Fang replied, rubbing his wrists to restore feeling. "A deals a deal I suppose. Provided I get free passage outta here that is." Another throwing star slammed into the wall, narrowly missing the weasel's neck.

"DON'T try to be clever Nack or I'll throw you out an air lock myself." Vector stated clenching a fist as Espio admired another of his metallic shards. "If you know where Vanilla is, spit it out!" The crocodile's hands clenched around the nearest metal bar and twisted it out of shape in an intimidating display of strength. "NOW!"

* * *

-

The fact that the fesonians had advanced this far into their territory was alarming enough, but if they were already taking slaves from captured planets then it was clear they were already fortifying their positions. This puzzled Alexander a great deal. He had been out of contact with any Federation information distribution depot for some time and his current knowledge of events was someone lagging.

Still, he could not see how they could have advanced so quickly with such a Com-Fed presence at the badlands border.

While the contractors in the colonization businesses would not be happy, and the miners themselves would complain about a wasted trip; it was imperative that they return to planet Chimera to report the magnitude of the incursion. Settlers bound for planet Cyclops would just have to wait for another time.

By now, most of the liberated captives had been transferred from the Confederation transport ship to the Scimitar itself and various other ships in the fleet. As soon as they were all safely aboard, the Fesonian crew would be sealed in the brig to await questioning from Com-Fed authorities.

"How are the repairs on the Blue Typhoon coming along?" The falcon asked, leaning to the side to look at one of the technical officers.

"They're almost complete sir." The human replied snapping to attention to a click of his heals. "But I have to report that the technology used in the vessel is lower than our own and if the ship was put into a combat situation against an average Confederate fleet, it would not last that long. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did against the Confederate's attack class vessels." Alexander said nothing in reply. He had already had the chance to go over the technical displays of the Blue Typhoon. While incredibly impressive for a society only just achieving space travel, it was no match in terms of fire power or defence for battleships in both the Confederation and Com-Fed fleets.

"It'll need to be upgraded then." The captained sighed eventually. "Well, we're not equipped for that here. We'll have to arrange it when we arrive back at Chimera."

"If I may ask sir…" The officer began slowly. "Why are you being so generous to them? They're not Com-Fed military personnel, or even our allies. I'm pretty sure this is a short step for a violation of military procedures." The Falcon smiled and stood up out of the captain's seat.

"Call it personal gratitude." He replied, crossing his arm like wings behind his back as he stared out across space. "They did defeat the legendary Destroyer Titan after all and regardless of the reasons, the Combined Federation did not come to their aid when it could have." His head turned to give the officer a glare over his shoulder. "Helping them repair and modernize their vessel and even rescue some of their people is the least we can do."

Sonic had gone right back to his room on the Blue Typhoon, thrown the door open and collapsed onto the bed face down. He was tired, both mentally and physically; and scared a little.

For a brief moment had lost control of himself and if Chris hadn't intervened, he would have killed that Fesonian captain. Resentment against their kind had been bubbling up in him for a while, only to be fully realized and expressed at the sight of all those cages.

The blue hedgehog had never killed with malicious intent in mind, but just now; he rolled over on the bed to look up at his hands. He could still remember how the neck felt between them. A little more applied strength and he could have broken it, in front of all the people who thought him a hero.

"What is wrong with me?" He asked, putting a hand to his forehead and closing his eyes. "This is nuts, I don't kill people." Those statements did little to cover the fact he had wanted to and nearly had. Anger was clouded his judgement so he didn't even consciously realize what he was doing until he was on the floor with Chris' fist imprint in his cheek.

And Chris of all people... that in itself was odd enough to mark this event in his memory for a long time.

A loud footstep came from the open door of his room and glancing up; he saw Metal Sonic's silhouetted form against the light in the corridor outside. The half eclipsed circular red eyes staring at him.

"I have decided that staying with your group is not what I should be doing." The robotic hedgehog said. "I have downloaded a map of territories known to this Federation, I am leaving." Sonic sat up and stared at him. "You have your own tasks…" Metal Sonic gestured around, referring to the blue Typhoon and the safety of those rescued. "And I have mine." A metal fist closed with a loud ringing.

Sonic forged a frown.

"Dark Oak, right?" Metal Sonic just nodded once in reply.

"He's my enemy, not yours. Once I find him, I will make sure he does not come back from the grave again."

"And the Chaos Emeralds? What will you do if you find them with him?"

"What do you think?" Metal Sonic's ambition of resurrecting his Machine Federation was well known and with the seven Chaos Emeralds he could do that. "Worry about your own present agenda's Sonic and forget about possible future ones." The robotic hedgehog's made a move to leave.

"Metal, tell me something…" Sonic asked and his metallic counterpart stopped. "Are you going after Dark Oak because you don't want him using the Emeralds, or because you're angry at him for betraying you?" Metal Sonic didn't reply. "I nearly did something I would have regretted for the rest of my life because I lost control of my anger."

"Machine's aren't bound by the same moral code organic life forms are." The robotic hedgehog stated. Sonic managed a short lop sided grin.

"Not all of them, but I think you are." Metal shot him an unimpressed glare, before leaving.

Captain Alexander watched as the robotic hedgehog left the ship and the thrusters on its feet, carried it off into the abyss until it was too small to see.

A moment after this, a thick barrage of laser fire came streaming out of nowhere, striking two of the mining vessels. The small ships couldn't handle the assault and exploded in a fire storm. The barrage continued and several more vessels were reduced to burning scrap metal.

"All ships, assume defensive formation delta!" Alexander declared dropping back into the captain's chair. "Shields, full power. All personnel to battle positions!" out of the bleak abyss of space, more space ships started to arrive; their design clearly showing they were attack class Confederation ships. Quickly their numbers ballooned to over twenty. Their combined fire power was enough to wipe out the Com-Fed fleet.

"All personnel and civilians have been evacuated from the transport ship sir." An officer at the front reported as the attack enemy ships assumed an assault formation and prepared to deliver the final blows. More Confederate ships were arriving one after the other, forming a gigantic fleet. Alexander quickly realized with growing horror that they been discovered by an advancing attack fleet; one of the Dooms Eye's elite forces.

"Lay down cover fire and retreat." He ordered. "Have the miner ships go ahead. The Scimitar will cover their withdrawal."

Topaz found the sickbed in the Scimitar's medical bay empty and the bloody bandages left where they had been dropped, a trail leading from the bed itself and out the door. Without even thinking about it, she ran without stopping through the corridors as the ship shook under the assault it was receiving.

Bursting out into the hanger bay, she was there just in time to see the metallic plates close around the Diablon's cockpit.

"OKIDA!" She cried out but by then it was already too late. She ran towards the machine and didn't stop even as it stood up and flexed its wings. "Okida, that thing's going to kill you!" The Mech made moves to exit the ship through the hanger bay doors. "No you don't you stubborn man!" She growled to herself, leaping forward and grabbing onto the leg of the massive foot of the machine. Climbing up the leg, she crawled desperately towards the cockpit entrance.

"When I open those doors, you'll be sucked out into space." Okida's voice stated from within the depths of the machine, projected outside by the speakers. "Let go and get yourself onto the Typhoon." The giant metal hand pointed towards their ship, sitting on the far side of the massive hanger bay.

"And let you go out there and get yourself killed?" She asked as she climbed, reaching the waist of the machine. "You don't know me very well." She began smashing her fist on the spot where the cockpit door would open but it didn't yield.

Eventually however the metal plates pealed aside and the interior was exposed. Okida had opened it from the inside. He was sanding there leaning against the side with a bored expression on his face.

"You're not going to let this go are you?" He asked raising an eyebrow. She raised a fist to strike him, then hesitated and lowered her arm.

"What's the point in hitting you?" She asked out load. "It's not like it's knocked any sense through that thick skull before." The ship around them shook again, a flash of yellow from the direct hit of a laser.

"This is the only working Mech and you can't expect me to lie in bed when you're all fighting that many ships?" The vampire bat asked. "I know this thing is dangerous. It was my body that got mangled remember? But if I don't master this thing, whatever self esteem I have left goes flying out the window." Topaz had known that already but had been choosing to ignore the fact.

A sudden smile crossed her face, along with a look that made Okida worry slightly.

"Then let's see you master it." She whispered almost seductively, sliding down into the cockpit with him. The metallic plates closed behind her and the Diablon's eyes glowed bright neon blue.


	11. Episode 6, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO, GO, GO, GO Let's GO!

Episode 6: The devoted captain.

* * *

-

The Scimitar's shields were failing. The intense barrage from the Confederation assault fleet was wearing down the defence buffer. It was only a matter of time before it failed and the ship was torn to pieces. The confederate's didn't care how they did it as long as they destroyed their enemy. In the crossfire, the transport ship the Com-Fed fleet had overtaken was blasted into millions of tiny flaming pieces.

By now the miner ships had a good head start, their numbers fleeing from the ships as The Scimitar itself acted as their shield.

"Support ships are now beyond the Confederate range of fire sir." Alexander nearly didn't hear the report as the roar from the attacks they were enduring was near deafening.

"That should be enough." The falcon said. "Fire at the leading three Confederation ships, lay in an escape path that will take us out of here."

"Aye sir." The turrets rose up and the lasers fired back, striking the leading confederate vessel across the bow. The shockwave paused it to tilt sideways rapidly, crashing it into the ship to its left. Attempting to use this momentary confusion to get away, the Scimitar about faced and began to increase its cruising speed. Before it could escape, another Confederation vessel burst through the rubble of the crashed two and was overshadowing them within moments.

"Sir, look!" Alexander stared up at the sheer wall before them in utter disbelieve. His own ship was dwarfed by the size of this giant. It was curved like a saucer, with a low bow that dipped far below the ships horizontal deck. Long curved moon shaped wings lanced out either side with huge thrusters attached to the far side. It was nearly completely dark blue almost grey, with hundreds of lights blinking out across its surface, along with hundreds of turrets with barrelled aimed directly at their ship.

"It's an Ymir!" One of the officers cried out nearly falling from his sight.

An Ymir was as assault class battleship in a league of its own; colossal vessels that were well over three times the size of any Com-Fed ship. They were so massive that the Confederate Empire had only created three of them.

Their rarity was something the Combined Federation military big wigs praised the almighty for; as wherever one of these behemoths had shown up, all retaliatory forces had been wiped out. Entire moons and planetary colonies reduced to smouldering rubble with the space of a single day. The sight of these giants incited terror in even the most experienced war veteran.

Alexander cursed in his native language which the device around his neck found difficulty in translating.

"You certainly picked a fine time to go AWOL Metal Sonic." The blue hedgehog muttered.

Dozens of turrets across the front of the Ymir opened fire all at once, the streams combining together as they crashed down towards the weakened Scimitar's shields. Before they could strike, a red object hurled itself it between them.

The Diablon's particle shield activated at the last second and as the barrage struck it, the shield surrounding the Mech absorbed the energy. This was channelled into the laser cannon directly in the centre of its head. With a blazing flash of light, the beam shot forward; lashing itself across the front of the massive ships face. A huge scar tore itself through the metal with a series of large explosions. Any smaller ships caught in the way were sliced in half.

The discharging energies forced the Diablon to drop it's the glowing orange shield, but it already accomplished its mission. The confusion was giving the Scimitar enough time to escape. The Diablon clamped its hand onto the ship before it sped off into space, hitching a right as they made a run for it.

Unwilling to let them go without a fight, The Ymir crashed past the other ships to follow. Despite its massive size, it was surprisingly fast and was catching them up. The Diablon glanced back only to see its massive form was beginning to loom over them again.

"Give us maximum speed, now!" Alexander ordered and the engine room complied as best it could, a burst of speed sending them rocketing forward. Slowly the Ymir began to shrink behind them. Unfortunately, the giant Confederation vessel was able to match their move with a burst of speed of its own.

The laser hadn't completely recharged yet, but out of both time and options the Diablon was forced to fire it anyway. The beam sliced through space and cut down the side of the Ymir leaving another scar, but it didn't do enough significant damage and the vessel kept coming.

With armaments from the ruined Yeager Mech, the Diablon fired its short arsenal at the giant, but none of that could so much as slow it down. This Mech was a machine designed purposely for hand to hand combat and there was little it could do against a ship of this size. Its laser simply recharged too slowly.

The side of the Scimitar's cargo bay door opened and another object hurtled out of it. The Diablon looked up to see E123: Omega flying above forwards, the thrusters attachments allowing him flight in a zero-G environment. His arm had been attachments and most of the damage he had sustained during the fight

While the Dialbon itself lacked artillery, Omega was a walking arsenal. Hidden compartments all over his body opened up one after the other. In rapid succession, dozens of missiles coursed forward and like a swarm of insects soured towards the Ymir.

Each of them struck the front of the enormous vessel, exploding on contact leaving ugly marks down the surface. Still the effect wasn't enough and the ship kept coming. It was almost with firing range now.

"Obliterate!" Omega stated, before firing as many missiles as he could as once; all of them coursed forward with a shockwave that could be felt throughout the entire Scimitar colony ship. Instead of trying to decimate the front of the ship, Omega directed his missiles at the wing on the left hand side.

This seemed to do have more or an effect and several of them struck the thrusters on that side, smoke floating out into space from the damage inflicted. This caused the speed of the vessel to decrease slightly giving them some more breathing room.

"I see." Omega muttered within the cockpit of the machine. Topaz had her arms wrapped around him from behind, her chin laid across his shoulder. Their minds were joined together in the Diablon's control system and so neither of them had to say anything to communicate. It was like some form of telepathy. It was new and alien to them, but strangely comforting and warm.

The Diablon's laser reached full power and firing it, the Mech struck the thrusters on the other wing, two of them breaking open in a spray of flaming shards. With output dulled on either side, the Ymir began to draw back from them unable to match their speed anymore.

Any celebrations were short lived and with a thunderous roar, a giant thrusters hidden around the back of the giant ship kicked into action; a roaring blue flame sending the Ymir rocketing forwards again.

"Klingons, I mean, Confederates off the port bow!" Hare declared watching the approaching titan out the window, only to receive a smack on the back of his head for the very bad and poorly timed joke.

"We're already at maximum velocity; we can't go any faster sir." The helm control replied to Alexander's repeated requests for more speed. Desperately the falcon searched for options. No one had survived an encounter with an Ymir before and he had no intention for both his crew and himself to be the next on the list of causalities.

Suddenly something occurred to him. It was a very long shot but…

"Professor Thorndyke…" He began turning towards Chuck who was standing behind him staring at the approaching colossus. "Our own ship can't make a jump while travelling at this speed, but the Blue Typhoon can jump no matter what velocity it's travelling at. Correct?" Chuck blinked coming to his senses.

"Well yes…" He started with a stutter. "But that part of our system's not been restored yet." Without seven waiting to hear the end of the sentence, the falcon captain slammed his hand down on the intercom.

"I want every able bodied engineer working on the Blue Typhoon's jump engine. NOW godanmit!"

Helen refused to let go of Chris. She clung to him as if he was her life line. Letting go of him would send her tumbling back into the darkness. Even as the ground beneath them pounded away like a heart beat, the stress on the ships engines increasing, she simply held herself closer to him.

The survivors picked up from the Giant Wing wreck were helping the liberated prisoners onto the Blue Typhoon. Orders from the Com-Fed personnel had told them it was in their best interests to get onto the smaller ship at once. Those on the miner ships that had gone ahead were safe, but those on this vessel; with the Ymir on their butt were in a great deal of danger.

"Just how many people can we cope with on this ship?" Beck wondered out load as he and Rei helped several people with wounds on her legs up the ramp and into the ship itself. "We've gone from twelve, to sixty and how we've trying to fit a good thousand in." The flying squirrel shrugged.

"We're going to have to manage." He replied as Danny, Francis and Chris darted past into the ship. Chris had Helen in his arms and was holding her as tight as she was holding him.

"Please, remain calm and move in an orderly fashion." Lieutenant Milford called out as he and his men heard the people in through the Tpyhoon's own cargo bay.

"Move it, get outta the way! Man out to save his own skin coming through!" Fang the Sniper was brushing people aside in an attempt to reach relative sanctuary.

The engineers arrived in their dozens moments after the last of the refugees had cleared the ramp, spurred on by the sight of the colossus approaching from outside and the ranting coming from the Captain. Several of them finalized the new connections between the Master Emerald and the Blue Typhoon's engine, while the rest of them began to frantically work to restore the jump engine.

Chuck was out of breath by the time he got down there, but refused to pause to catch it again until he had helped them. He had worked with this technology longer than they had and understood it far better.

"All personnel are to transfer to the Typhoon at once." Alexander ordered. "We're going to have to escape using its jump engine. There's no way the Scimitar is going to be able to out run an Ymir." His gaze was fixed on the screens showing Omega and the Diablon, continually firing into the massive ship in an attempt to slow it down. Their efforts were largely going without reward. "Switch to auto-pilot and evacuate!" His order was addressed mostly to those on the bridge than anyone else. They all looked up looking slightly alarmed. "That's an order."

The Ymir cleared firing range and a thick barrage began to swarm around the Scimitar, several blasts breaking through the shields and striking the vessel directly. With each strike the ship shook as if gripped by an earthquake. The huddled masses on the Typhoon were fortunate that the ship required so small a crew to operate. Most of the rooms and chambers were empty and even with the Scimitar's crew joining them, everyone managed to fit inside.

The bridge crew were the last to arrive, climbing aboard the smaller ship just as the jump drive of the Typhoon began to respond again.

"You've done enough." Alexander called through a communications link to the two fighting machines. He was the only person left on the bridge. "Get back inside; we're getting out of here right now."

"Roger." Omega replied, firing one last swarm of missiles before retreating back towards the ship. The Diablon stayed just long enough to discharge its laser, carving another hole along the wings of the Ymir before it followed.

When they arrived back inside, the door to the Typhoon's own hanger was open waiting for them.

Helen had nearly been reduced to the level of a frightened child. Chris could only imagine what it must be like to see your parents murdered and determined it was best not to even imagine it, as his own folks had been taken back to the Confederates home world Feson as part of a slave trade.

His own fears forcing his actions, he hugged Helen closer.

"I'm sorry." He muttered into her hair as she clung to him. "I should have been there for you."

"Wait…what about the Captain?" Alicia, the Doctor asked, finding that Alexander was not present amongst those who had crammed onto the ship.

"Isn't he here?" Amy asked looking around. There was no sign of the falcon anywhere. Without warning the clamps, that were holding the Blue Typhoon to the floor of the Scimitar's hanger bay, let go and the ship began to slide across the floor. Slowly it moved towards the open huge metallic doors that lead out into space.

"Sorry about the bumpy exit, but that's the best I can do right now." The voice of the captain stated, the signal meeting with interference so it was garbled over the connection.

"Captain what are you doing?" An officer asked. "You have to escape too."

On the bridge, Alexander managed a short chuckle.

"If I do that, they'll be no one left to distract the Ymir while you make your jump." He replied with the controls to whatever was left of the Scimitar's weapons systems already in front of him "You're my crew and my responsibility."

"So you're going down with your ship?" Amy demanded with wide eyes.

"Rather outdated concept I know." Alexander replied. The Ymir was barraging the Scimitar with laser fire so much parts of it were beginning to flake off. "But still quite necessary. You'll never make it unless I do."

At that moment Sonic tumbled onto the bridge, falling over several people in the process.

"Don't be an idiot!" He called out." There's no need to sacrifice yourself!"

"The Scimitar's computer has been badly damaged." Alexander replied. "The auto-pilot can't do everything that needs to be done and there isn't time to fix it. I'll have to guide the ship manually." All the turrets left began to rise up from within the colony ship, turning to face the advancing Ymir. "You can consider this payment for our decision to ignore the plight of your home."

Sonic called out something but by then the captain had already disengaged the communications link. The captain leaned back in his chair and sighed to himself.

"I'm an idiot you say?" He asked himself privately. "I guess we're all a little stupid. If we weren't we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with." The next instant the Typhoon simply fell out of the Scimitar and Chuck had to grab the controls to prevent them from floating into the Ymir's barrage.

The restored engines roared to life and the ship soared forward away from the Scimitar as it did a one hundred and eighty degree turn, moving to face the Ymir directly. The giant Confederation vessel was blasting the ship with its entire arsenal, all the turrets grinding the colony ship down piece by piece.

Warning reports flashed up on mutable screens across bridge and intense heat ripped through as the system was no longer able to maintain life support. Back surges were causing panels to explode all around him and bursting into flames, but Alexander kept the ship, his ship, flying forward.

Seeing what the Com-Fed vessel was trying to do, the Ymir turned on its axis. It could move swiftly when going in a straight line but when turning to face another direction it was incredibly slow.

"We can't leave him behind!" Alicia called out.

The Scimitar's turrets all fired at once, the lasers slamming directly into the Ymir at close range.

"Sonic the Hedgehog." The captain started, looking back over his shoulder. "You may not even know it yourself, but I saw enough of you to guess what you are; to determine what destiny lies ahead for you. I saw the ruins on Hydra myself." His memories blurred past him and he saw himself as a young fledgling, visiting the ruins on that water planet floor the first time; wandering off from the group and getting lost inside the ancient maze.

Only to be found again staring up at the mural at the ruins centre. "This may very well be my greedy way of writing myself into your story, but take care of my crew anyway will you, Iblis Trigger?"

"It's too late." The blue hedgehog muttered.

The Scimitar crashed directly into the Ymir.

The devastation inflicted on the giant vessel was not enough to destroy it but the shockwave sent it spiralling off course. Its right wing were quickly coated in burning wreckage and the wreck of the colony ship embedded into its front and as it exploded, it took a large chuck of the Ymir along with it.

A moment later, the Blue Typhoon vanished in a short flash of blue light as its jump took place.

* * *

-

Amongst the most interesting pieces of Fesonian technology, Eggman discovered; was the ability to cross large distances of space in a relatively short time. It was a form of hyper space jumping technology, but he discovered; to his utter delight, it wasn't as advanced as the drive he had developed on the Blue Typhoon and later installed onto the Egg Carrier.

This was the technology they had used to arrive at Earth from their home territory within the space of two years instead of several dozen decades.

With his control over the Earth now completely secured, the Doctor could finally turn his attention outwards to the rest of the universe. Becoming a regent of the Confederate Empire was the best decision he ever made. It had allowed him finally victory over his enemies and a place amongst the great elite in the galaxy. He was now in a position to create his perfect utopia; the great Eggman Empire.

"I must say, your people have a fascinating civilisation." He remarked to Admiral Baal as they overlooked the Earth from the Eggmoon in orbit. Using the natural resources in the ring around the planet, the Confederates were constructing defences to protect their installations from orbital bombardment. "So much abundant technology at your disposal and so efficiently used. You are a model for the rest of the universe."

"You think so?" The fesonian asked; his long tail swaying around his ankles as he leaned back against a wall with his arms crossed in front of him. His tone was humoured and the Doctor looked back with a puzzled expression on his face. "Believe me I would like nothing more than to claim such grandeur for my species, but I'm afraid our history is against us."

"I'm afraid I don't follow." Eggman admitted. Baal sighed and walked over, glaring down at the construction with a disapproving look on his scaly face.

"Why do you think half a conquered planets population is returned to our home world Feson?" The admiral asked.

"The Doom's Eye said your people engaged in slavery." The doctor himself did not approve of such practises, but he found that quite often slaves were essential in getting large quantities of work done quickly.

"If that was simply the case, then why not distribute them across our territory where they're needed instead of shipping them directly to Feson first?" The Doctor paused, unable to find any answer for that question. "Since you have that helmet, I assume you know of the Emperors physic abilities?" Eggman became faintly aware he was still wearing the pilot's helmet he had outfitted with devices to prevent the Dooms Eye from reading his mind and nodded once.

"I felt it wise to protect myself." The Doctor muttered proud at his forethought on the matter.

"When slaves from a newly conquered world arrive on Feson, the emperor scans their minds using his telepathy." Baal continued with his hands down before him as he stared out the window. "Whatever useful information, be it political or scientific, is copied and used to further our empire's own technological growth." Eggman was silent, finding nothing to say in reply. "So you see Doctor, we aren't really a 'civilisation'; we're simply a band of pirates taking advantage of those who actually worked to find their own knowledge."

"I see." Eggman replied finally finding his voice. "When looked at logically, it is an effective method of growth." Baal snorted out through his nostrils angrily.

"It's a barbaric practise that had earned my people the scorn of the entire galaxy." He said with a good deal of venom in his voice. "The Black Arms, our splinter sect; were the first to realize this and spilt from us." Efforts to combat the Black Arms on Mars had ground to a halt as they had simply disappeared. Apart from empty installations, not a trace of the rouge sect could be found anywhere on the Terraformed planet. Confederate ships regularly patrolled Mars, looking for any signs that might suggest their presence; but it was as if they hadn't been there at all. Clearly they were hiding but exactly where was impossible to determine.

If that were not bad enough, phantom resistance movements were propping up all over the Earth in various countries. Confederation lines of supplies being brought up from the surface for the orbital defences were regularly being hijacked and despite extensive security efforts the activates had not been stopped. Wreckage of transport ships were often found with a banner stuck in the ground nearby, the icon of a white hammer across it; clearly the symbol of the resistance group responsible.

"If that is your belief then why are you an admiral in your empire's fleet?" Eggman asked raising an eyebrow.

"Because I hadn't a choice in the matter." Baal replied. "If they are not employed by the age of 18, all Fesonian males must serve in the military and space naval fleets."

"You were drafted then?"

"I started as an ordinary officer and was promoted many times because I was good at subjugating worlds." Baal's tone did not give over the impression he was proud of those achievements.

"I think you may be too harsh on your system." Eggman muttered. "It doesn't look as bad to me as you make it sound." Baal stood back up straight.

"Really?" He asked giving the Doctor a glare over his shoulder. "Then perhaps you should follow me." He walked off and after a moment of hesitation, Eggman followed. The admiral lead the Doctor back to his personal ship which lay docked with the Eggmoon. Most of the crew had been given shore leave and were on the planet below helping themselves to the spoils of war.

Coming to the bridge, Baal ran his long fingered hand over the controls. A holographic image appeared before the Doctor as he stepped inside.

"What you are seeing is recorded imagery of the naval yards on planet Feson." The admiral stated as the image began to clarify. Eggman watched in silence as he saw massive floating installations above dozens of tiny islands. Confederate ships were being constructed inside them. The workers were toiling to put the giant vessels together… no wait…those weren't workers.

Workers had no need for manacles around his necks. A long metal chain connected a line of dozens of alien species together. Many of them were clearly in a great deal of pain, but the Fesonians behind them drove them on working. One of the slaves; a bird like being like green feathers, collapsed from exhaustion dropping his tools beside him. The guards kicked him a couple of times, but it became clear he was not going to get up again; ever.

Without hesitation they tossed his body over the side and it fell into the ocean below. His place in the line was quickly filled by another slave and the work resumed. Once the battleship was finished, the crew boarded pushing the slaves out of the way roughly. As soon as the vessel was out of the way, more scrap metal was brought in and the work began again on another ship.

Even Eggman was appalled.

"Understand now?" Baal asked; his eyes averted from the image. "Our 'great civilisation' was founded on the suffering of tens of thousands of people and our fleets made with the blood of those forced to put them together. We are no great force Doctor; we're simply puppets for the whims of the Dooms Eye."

Eggman was left without anything to say. Baal cast his hand over the console and the image disappeared.

This was not the utopia he wanted to build.

It was nothing close.

"Could I have made a mistake?" He asked himself for the first time in two years. Could he have been in complete error by helping the Confederates with their conquest of the Earth? No...Earth was his now, that meant he had accomplished his goal hadn't he? He glanced out the bridge main window towards the planet below.

No… this planet wasn't his. Even now it was under the occupation of the Confederate empire. His robots only made a fraction of the forces down there and could be overwhelmed any time.

"As far as the emperor is concerned, you are simply a source of new scientific knowledge." The admiral continued. "Once the know-how in your head is added to his collective, you will be of no further use to him." Eggman threw his hands to his helmet almost instinctively. "That helmet may protect you for now, but eventually his patience will run out and it will be forcibly removed; along with every ounce of robotics knowledge in your brain."

"That traitorous starfish!" The Doctor growled. "No mutated form of sea bound life makes a fool of Doctor Eggman!" Baal managed a short but grim smile. He waved his hand over the console again.

"These images, you'll be surprised to learn, were taken by an Ymir class ship as it chased down a Com-Fed colony vessel." Eggman looked up and watched a pyramid shaped ship charged towards the camera. "If we zoom in here." Baal pressed a button and the image concentrated itself on the bottom left hand side of the pyramid. There was a white shape there but it was too blurry a picture to make it out properly. "Sharpen the image and…" Details began to make themselves known and Eggman's jaw dropped.

"Impossible!" He declared as the Blue Typhoon stared him directly in the face. "My attack was right on the money! How could they…" The answer was already clear. "They must have jumped before the blast!" He smacked a hand into his forehead. Why hadn't he thought of that himself? He was the one who helped create the jumping technology inside that very ship!

"There various…factions…within the Confederation who wish to seen another on the imperial throne." Baal continued. "They would be most interested in learning if both you and Sonic would consider allying with them, Doctor." Eggman looked up into the admiral's face. His expression was unreadable. "They….WE…could certainly use your help."

"I can't speak for the rodent, but as for myself…" He began. "Well let's just say I like to have friends." The fesonian's scaly lips spread apart in a smile.

"Then allow me to introduce you to your newest ones." He waved his hand across the console again and another image appeared in place of the Blue Typhoon. Eggman stared up at the three figures now before them. "These are our finest agents and galaxy class thieves. Highly skilled individuals I believe you will find indispensable." They all looked mobian birds but had varying differences from those the Doctor was used to seeing. On was short with green feathers, another roughly the same height with violet feathers and the final one was a good head and shoulders taller than the first two with dark grey feathers. "You will know them as the Babylon Rouges."


	12. Episode 6, part 2

Exactly where the jump had taken the ship was impossible to determine at first. Chuck had engaged the coordinates quickly, hoping to transport them out of immediate danger. Space rippled like the surface of a lake, before the Blue Typhoon faded into existence. The ship's form was unstable for a brief moment in an almost gas like state, then it solidified and the jump was completed.

The feeling of displacement and nausea caused by a jump did not last long, but when the feelings of sickness adapted a new feeling came in their place; a sensation of intense sadness.

"I don't get it." Sonic admitted standing up and looking out the bridge's wide windows. The Scimitar was gone. "He sacrificed himself for us on a moments notice and without a second thought." Amy was leaning on her hammer nearby staring out into space with him.

"And we barely knew him." She began. There was nothing anyone found they could add to that.

Captain Alexander of the Com-Fed Colony ship Scimitar, died honourably in the line of duty allowing his crew and over a thousand complete strangers to escape enemy forces. That was now those aboard choose to remember him and how, they all decided, it would be reported to Federation authorities.

The star maps given to him by the Scimitar's crew allowed Chuck to estimate their current position and steer the ship towards the planet that was their destination; Chimera. He set the ship's controls on auto-pilot, finding that he had neither the will nor the time to steer it himself.

Wounds were attended to, but it was clearly most of the damage had been done mentally. The people on the ship were scared individuals and it took a lot of reassuring in order to calm them down.

Even during the jump, The Diablon had remained perfectly still. Then as normality resumed, it lowered itself down onto one knee. The armour moved aside and the cockpit opened up. This time, no blood ridden mangled body fell out. This time, Okida gently dropped from the Mech and glide to the floor. An unconscious Topaz was cradled in his arms.

The major himself was extremely out of breath and he felt like his heart was doing over a thousand miles an hour. Still, he was in better condition from the first piloting attempt in which he had come out with broken bones and ruptured organs. He looked down at the human in his arms. She hadn't sustained much physical damage but her face was flushed with sweat causing her body to glisten.

With her mind joined into the symbiosis with the Diablon; Okida had seen into her thoughts and heart and no doubt, vice versa. It had been a strange, yet warm experience and through that Okida had finally been able to understand something.

The Diablon was alive, in a sense, but to so much as even move it required a pilot. The more minds combined with it, the less of a drain it became. When he had been piloting it himself, the Diablon's entire mental and physical requirement had been drawn directly from him. This had been so taxing it was nearly torn his body up.

But with Topaz helping him, the drain had simply left them both physically exhausted.

"I was right." He stated looking back up towards the towering Mech above them, its shadow casting itself over them. "You are one unique piece of badass hardware." Finding some left over strength, he stood up and carried Topaz away. With his back to it, Okida did not notice the Diablon's eyes glow bright blue one final time.

Cream and Emerl were helping Sam deal with the large amounts of people coming into the medical bay. Many of them had wounds dealt to them during their transport aboard the slave ship. Others simply had sprained caused by the sudden crowding.

"I'm a racer not a doctor." Sam finally complained angrily kicking the side of the wall. "How the hell am I supposed to deal with all this?" As if in answer, Lieutenant Milford pushed past some of those waiting in time to enter. Behind him was one of the soldiers they rescued from Giant Wing.

"This is my unit's medic." The Lieutenant stated. "I'm guessing you'll be having a need for him?" Cream nodded a friendly smile. "Jones, it's your show."

"Yes Sir." The medic replied opening a first aid bag in his hands.

As the ship sailed along, it met up with the miner ships that had gone on ahead. They all appeared to be heading to Chimera as well and so were happy to join them as an escort. They were close enough to send a communication ahead to inform the authorities there of their situation. A relief convoy would be meeting them halfway to take some of the worst injuries back for proper medical care. One of their militaries top brass would also want to ask questions about the Confederate fleet they blundered into.

"So this is that ship we heard you were all on?" Danny asked as he got his first look of the inside of the Typhoon. "It's even bigger than it looked on TV." They all sat in the canteen. They had stocked up with some of the food and drink from the Scimitar and there was enough to go around. Chris had brought the three of them some bread and noodles as that seemed to be all they had at the moment in abundance. Clearly Com-Fed stocks were not that diverse.

Helen had said nothing and for Chris, her silence was painful. She looked at the food in front of her but ate only a little.

"Is it true Tails built it?" Francis asked even as she pushed the small loaves into her mouth. Chris nodded with a dulled smile.

"He had help." He decided of course not to tell them that help came from Doctor Eggman. "But Okida's the one who acts as Captain now."

"Why's that?" Danny asked. "Can't Tails captain his own ship?" Chris had almost forgotten that his old friends hadn't been around to share some of the more recent experiences that those on the Typhoon had had.

So it became his sad duty to relate to them the events. How Cosmo's place in this dimension had been sacrificed to allow the energies of the Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald and the Precious Stone. Tails refused to let her go alone and leapt after her at the last moment.

Once his story was finished, the four of them sat in silence.

"Things sure have changed a lot from the old days haven't they?" Francis asked, looking down at the half finished meal before her. Her green eyes alive with great sadness. "When Sonic first arrived, and we got to see all those great adventures. Then all this happened…"

"Yeah." Danny muttered, turning the noodles over with a fork. Chris said nothing; his gaze was still on Helen. Without hesitating for a moment he put a hand on her far shoulder and let her lean against his own. Neither Danny nor Francis commented about this gesture. Francis glanced up briefly and then paused; she leaned to her side and stared.

"I don't believe it." She muttered.

"What?" Danny and Chris asked at the same time. Even Helen looked a little more attentive. Francis simply pointed off and the others followed her gaze. Trying to get something to eat from the kitchens are the far side of the canteen was a weasel with violet fur they were all familiar with.

"Noodles?" Fang asked himself finding that apart from bread a few tinned fruits, that was all there was. "I hate noodles." Still, with nothing else and many, MANY other hungry mouths to feed; Fang decided it was best to get a meal before there wasn't anything left.

"Just how the heck did he get on…" Chris began.

"Forget about him." Another voice began. Vector was standing nearby staring out at the weasel. "I said we'd give him safe passage to some friendly place before we let him out of his cell."

"I'd have let the little vermin rot there." Danny muttered. Vector clenched his lips together to try and hide the scornful frown.

Fang had told him that he had been loaded onto the transport ship after picking a fight with a Confederate officer.

"Why the hell would you do something that suicidal?" Beck had asked.

"He pushed me, I push back." The weasel replied with a large sadistic grin. He went on to say that while they were being organized into various different transport ships, Fang had seen Vanilla being forced onto another ship. Also he had picked up enough of their language to understand that the destination of the transport would not be the Fesonian home world, but rather another base on a planet called Archon.

The crocodile turned the ring he had attempted to propose to Vanilla with over in his closed fist.

He had already seen the star maps. Planet Archon lay deep within Confederation territory and was a very, VERY, long way away from where they presently were. Still, there was not a single shred of doubt in Vector's mind as to what he should do.

"This is my decision and own course of action." He had told the rest of Chaotix only a short while ago. "I can't expect you all to go along with this one." All of them, even Charmy, were utterly silent. "But I'm going, so I can't look after Cream for Vanilla. I want you guys to do it for me." Espio had sighed then and folded his arms.

"Emerl's enough to look after the pipsqueak." He replied. "Besides if you think we're going to let you go of into the galaxy alone you've got another thing coming." The crocodile looked alarmed. He had thought surely Espio would leap at the opportunity to avoid what could most likely be a fruitless goose chase.

"We've not abandoned you yet boss man." Beck added with a thumb's up. "Despite countless close calls for jail sentences." Rei just shrugged. He was in too.

"Fight bad guys, fight bad guys, fight bad guys; yeah!" Charmy clapped hovering in mid air. Vector hadn't known what to say. Espio patted him on the arm and gave him an understanding smile.

"Let's go get your girl back."

* * *

-

Doctor Alicia hissed loudly all of a sudden.

"What's the matter?" Chuck asked looking up and over his shoulder.

"I've just gotten confirmation of who the military officer they're sending to interrogate us is." She replied leaning back in the chair and putting a hand to her forehead. "Chimera's overseer, Lieutenant General Darion himself, is on his way. His personal shuttle left the planet's orbit along with the relief convoy we're scheduled to rendezvous with." Chuck paused with a clearly puzzled expression on his face.

"What's wrong about that?" He asked. The Doctor looked back with wide eyes and then shook her head as she remembered that those from Earth weren't familiar with the reputation of Combined Federation military brass.

"His men affectingly refer to him as 'Gold-Blood'." She replied brushing some of her hair out of her face. "He's the second in command of the Federation under the President himself. He personally commands the army and space forces in the area." That gave Chuck the impression that something was up if someone so important was on their way to investigate a simple convoy. "He's not a man to cross, especially on the battlefield. Everyone, even traders, are scared stiff of him."

"We had someone like that on Earth." Prof. Thorndyke sighed, remembering briefly the Commander of G.U.N, Jericho Mandarin.

"He may be a lifeline in battle, but outside a war zone he's as bureaucratic as they come." The Doctor went on with a long sigh. "He and his staff will have us tied up with red tape before we even reach the planet's surface."

By now they were entering a solar system that held many inhabited planets. Ships of all shapes and sizes soured past them with regularity that suggested traffic. Most of them looked like regular transport ships; others resembled the Scimitar so much it sent shivers up Sonic's spine to watch. After finding the only quiet spot on the entire Typhoon, the blue hedgehog sat down to simply watch the steady flow.

Observing the strange assortments of vessels going to and fro around them took his mind off things. The planets they were passing by varied in colour, most of them being a dull blue. One that caught his eye was a mint green. Most of them had orbiting platforms that he guessed, his imagination acting up from watching too much sci-fi, that these were space stations. Ships would dock at them and others would leave, presumably using this to refuel since they used so much during the burn to escape the planet's gravity.

"And I worked all that out…how?" He asked himself out load. He sighed and leaned back to fall into the sofa. The ceiling of his room offered him little in the way of comfort and he rolled over so he was staring at the sofa itself. That wasn't very forthcoming with sympathy either but as he hadn't the emotional energy to muster, he simply lay there with half closed eyes.

That moment, when he realized that the Scimitar's captain had never had any intention of coming with them, nearly sent Sonic back in time. Two years back, where Cosmo had offered the same gesture to allow them a chance to overcome Krish. That had been painful enough, but then Tails had gone after her. The two events, recent and distant, were so similar that for a moment the blue hedgehog felt as if he had been removed from times flow.

The experience had left Sonic disturbed to the point where he didn't even feel like himself anymore.

Without warning a pair of arms cupped themselves under his arms and crossed in front of his chest. He felt the warmth of another body pin itself to his back and the familiar smell of Amy's perfume suddenly filled the air. Usually this would be the point where he would try to break off her advances, but since he hadn't even the will to do that he let her hug him.

The pink hedgehog's chin rested itself on Sonic's shoulder as her cheek aligned with his.

"I don't like you moping in the dark." She whispered to him.

"Well I want to." He replied sulking.

"Well I don't want you to." Amy pressed her face nearer his to the point where it was a stones throw away from a kiss. Sonic began to suspect that her intentions with this closeness here did not end with cheering him up. "There have been plenty of times before when things got to you, but you didn't let them drag you down before." Her words sent a series of unpleasant memories of some of his worst experiences running through his mind and he grimaced at them.

"Yeah I guess." He wasn't going to give up, and he hadn't any intention of letting himself get bogged down. It was the emotional shock that left him feeling useless. "It all just…reminded me of Tails." Amy managed a smile and felt tears wheeling in her eyes. She drew them back with a sniff and hugged Sonic closer. "I miss him Amy." He carried on. "I really do."

"I know." She replied. "We all do."

The door to Sonic's room opened a crack and Rouge peeped inside. Seeing the two hedgehogs lying on the sofa she silently shut the door again and decided it was best to leave them there. They could discover they were nearing their destination later. Besides, Amy would kill her for ruining this moment.

"You go girl." The bat murmured with a smile before walking off lightly chuckling to herself.

"Planet Chimera, class 3 Terra planet." The lieutenant, Milford, read of the screen before him as they received information about the planet they were steady moving towards. By now it was a yellow greenish dot in the distance and was slowly growing bigger. "Terraformed over five hundred years ago and used as a frontier army core supply base for the Combined Federation space fleet." Several of his men, mobian's from the rescued group, Chuck, Bean, Bark and Hare were looking at the screen over his shoulder with intense curiosity. "The Capital is Metal City, located on the northern continent. Population is over one billion and most of that are civilian personnel who work for the CORE Corporation, an industrial company who owns the planet." Chuck looked back over his shoulder.

"Corporations OWN planets?" He asked with a raised eyebrow towards Alicia. Several others looked with him.

"Several of them. The land's technically owned by the corporation, but Com-Fed law is kept enforced by the army outside their payroll." The Doctor replied without looking around. "CORE's the corporation who got the funding contract for the colonisation mission we were on before we intercepted your signal." Apparently satisfied with that answer they all turned back to read more.

"Current head of operations on Chimera is Lieutenant General Darion of the…" Milford paused to see if he could pronounce this right. "Rig…riga..gah..ical?"

"Riggerical." The Doctor corrected him. "A reptilian race from the planet Hydra in Falcon Admiralty territory. Most of them serve in the armed forces of the Falcons but a few of them can be found as officers in our military." She smiled, realizing that for them it was a hard name to remember and not laugh while saying it. "You can say, 'Rigs' or reptilians for short. They don't mind the abbreviation."

"Right." Milford replied before carrying on where he left off. "…of the 'Rigs' race. Joined the space fleet at the rank of Ensign and over the course of a decade has worked his way up to become the head of the planet bound army and the Com-Fed space fleet for this area. He is considered to be second in command of the Federation with the elected President the only one having authority over him."

"That's a dangerous amount of power for one man to hold." Hare commented putting his hands on his hips. "What I don't really get is why the second in command would be coming to see us?" The Doctor just shrugged.

"Perhaps since CORE is the owner of the land on Chimera and the fund producer for our missions, he's being compelled to investigate personally." She sat up and leaned forward. "Whatever the reason it means we probably won't be seeing land fall soon. Darion's got a reputation for loosing people and entire ships in the paper work. He'll most likely have us detained on the orbiting launcher platforms for a week."

"Can't we just fly away or something?" Hare asked; who did not like the idea of being detained by a bureaucratic lizard man, no matter how high he was in rank.

"Too late." One of the Scimitar's crew announced pointing off. "There's his personal shuttle now." They all glanced up to see a smaller ship flying towards them. It was flat and long with a sharp front end. A red light stood out at either end against the dark grey hull. It had smaller fighter ship escort, flying in a diamond formation as it soured nearer.

"We can pretend the airlocks are damaged so he can't dock?" Bean offered.

"He'll see that they aren't from his own ship." The Doctor replied leaning into her hands.

"Give me five minutes." The duck commented with a demented look in his eyes as he produced some plastic explosives from his backpack. The silent Bark smacked him around the back of the head.

The miner ships with some of the rescued people met up with others ships sent to meet up with them. These were apparently the medical aid that was promised. Before anyone on the Blue Typhoon itself could be seen to however, the ship had to play host to the arrival of the Lieutenant General.

The ship docked with the Typhoon without any trouble and the Doctor and the other important members from the Scimitar's crew were there to meet him. Gathering their curiosity Milford, Chuck and several others peeked around the corner as air lock doors began to pull aside. Several human's soldiers came out first, followed by Falcon soldiers. They were all wearing the same blue military style uniform. They lined themselves upon either side and saluted as another, far larger being emerged.

"Blimey!" Hare muttered at the sight of the creature as it marched forwards on bipedal arched legs. If this was Darion, no wonder so many people spoke of him with trepidation. Whether these features were common to all Riggerical was still in question but Darion was very tall. His shoulders were broad and arms thick with developed muscle. A long scaly neck with a frill running up the throat curved out from the uniform. His head resembled a dinosaurs', with a bony crest and a nose horn. His scaly were dark brown and highlights of orange running along the legs. A long muscular tail swept out behind him, acting as a balancer for the weight of the torso over the weaker legs.

His basic form resembled the physical biology of a Fesonian and Chuck wondered briefly in perhaps the two species were in someway related. A pair of pure emerald green eyes scanned the occupants standing there to attention before him.

"I received word in the dispatches that Captain Alexander had been killed in action." He stated showing his mouth was rimmed with small by sharp teeth. "Is this true?" Darion's question had been directed at the Doctor. With the captain gone, she was technically the highest ranking officer for the colony ships crew.

"Yes Lieutenant General." She replied.

"He was a well respected officer and a good solider." The large, dinosaur-like, being continued. "If I had known the Confederates had penetrated out territory that deeply I would never have allowed the colonisation mission to proceed." His tone was genuinely remorseful and the Alicia looked a little confused. "How many survivors from the Scimitar?"

"All personnel accounted for sir." She relied quickly. "Along with over 5000 liberated prisoners from a Confederation transport ships we intercepted."

"One of which is the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog isn't it?" He asked. The Doctor looked a little stunned and so did those around her. Darion glanced up half expecting to see the hedgehog himself here amongst them. "Well, where is he?"

"I er…he's resting at this time sir." Alicia replied thinking quickly. "He left us instructions he was not to be disturbed." It was clear that the Lieutenant General was not in the habit of being denied a request and shot the Doctor a glare that she shrank away from. She was in luck that he did not know she had made that bit up. "May I ask sir, how you knew he was present?" The Riggerical stood up straight squaring his shoulders.

"Before I left I received a metal container addressed to 'S.T.H'. After seeing this ship and recognising it from the intercepted broadcasts, it wasn't hard to deduce who it was meant for."

"For me?" Sonic asked in surprise as they assembled on the Typhoon's bridge. The blue hedgehog looked incredibly confused as the Lieutenant General handed him a metallic square container about the size of an A4 sheet of paper.

"Sign here." One of Darion's soldiers began, offering a clipboard to Chuck who simply signed for it without really looking at the papers.

"How can we be getting post?" Hare asked scratching the back of his head. "Do we know anyone outside of Earth?"

"Don't ask me." Rouge replied with a shrug of her shoulders. Sonic studied the metal box in his hands intently. It was a square metal block with a dark metallic slid. Alicia explained that transported packages had to be inside such containers in order for the contents to be preserved during transport across space.

"Ok fine…" Sonic sighed accepting that, somehow, someone had known they were going to be here and sent this package. "Now how do you open the damn thing?"

"Sonic…" Amy began. The blue hedgehog looked up and blinked when he saw the pink hedgehog staring in awe at the front of the package. Sonic flipped the thing over to get a better look and nearly dropped it when he saw the icon engraved on the front.

Two fox tails, pressed against each other in the middle of a circle.

Tails had always put such an icon on his inventions. By now the others had noticed this as well and simply stood there staring at it.

"You… you don't think…" Knuckles began, his tone suggesting he was afraid to voice his own hopes.

"The latches here open it." Darion told him, pointing with a claw towards the two metallic clamps that held down the lid. Sonic nearly tore them off and wrenched the lid open before he had even finished speaking. Instantly a pale red light filled the bridge, highlighting the groves on their faces. Sonic slowly placed the container down on the side of consoles and reached itself.

Slowly he held his hand up and held the Red Chaos Emerald aloft for them to see. Silenced endured for a moment.

"Ok, 'now' I'm confused." Bean remarked. Sonic stared into the depths of the red jewel, confusion and surprise clear in his eyes. He did not understand.

All seven Chaos Emeralds had been stolen by Dark Oak, what was one of them doing here?

"A Chaos Emerald…" Chuck began in awe. "How come our sensors didn't pick it up before now?"

"This container is lined with an energy absorbing material." Darion remarked inspecting the container running a claw around the outer edge. "We use it in space ships to absorb dangerous radiation and other ambient dangers when our ships have to pass close to suns. That's probably why neither of our sensors detected it." The Lieutenant General blinked and took out a circular device from the bottom of the container. "Here." He passed it to Sonic, who picked it up in his free other hand. It was the size of his palm and

"That's a holo-letter." Alicia explained. "It records a short message." The blue hedgehog located what he thought was a button on the outer rim and pressed it without a moments hesitation. A short beam of green light emitted from the top of the small device and a shape began to form.

"Wha…" Sonic began in utter surprise as a familiar face formed there, but it wasn't the one he had been hoping for.

It was Dark Oak.

"Greetings." The armoured general began, his metallic armoured arms crossed in front of him. "By the time this message reaches you, you should be nearing the planet Chimera if all goes as planned." No one said a word as they were all stunned in silence and simply watched. "My new ally has instructed me to take the Chaos Emeralds that I…'borrowed' from Sonic and scatter them across several planets." As if knowing it was going to be there, he turned and gestured to the planet before them.

Chimera was a large planet with green and yellow clouds across the equator, growing fainter around the poles where the landmasses could be seen. Their speed was slowing down as they prepared to go into orbit. "The second is located on this world in the capital, Metal City."

"I don't get it." Amy asked, taking the red Chaos Emerald from Sonic and holding it up for them all to see. "He steals the emeralds and then posts them back?"

"I'm willing to wager you are all wondering what my motivations for this elaborate scavenger hunt are?" It was almost as if Dark Oak was predicting their situation and questions by the way he went on. "You'll know soon enough, but keep in mind that there are undoubtedly going to be parties who are interested in the Emeralds as well so my advice is not to dawdle."

* * *

-

Okida sat silently on the shoulder of Diablon, staring out the hanger bay windows towards the planet as they neared it, the Typhoon finally settling into orbit. The bat tensed his muscles, expecting each of them in turn to see if they had fully healed from the mangling he had endured during his first piloting attempting of the Diablon. To his delight they had although his back muscles still felt as if someone had taken a meat tenderizer to them.

"So…. If it's more minds the merrier with you…" he began turning to face the Diablon's large head to his left. "Then what exactly where you trying to show me before?" During the first attempt at piloting images had flashed into Okida's head so fast he couldn't make them out, only brief bits of knowledge he could retain for longer than a few seconds before they were lost again.

The former major glanced down at the large planet below and a smile spread across his face at the machines silence. "Well, I'm going to find out."

* * *

(In Chris' voice)

Shadow's integrity is put to the test next time on Combine Wars when Black Doom reveals secrets from his past and proposes a deal that could give Shadow back everything he'd ever lost.

Is this the lure of evil?

Find our next time on Sonic X, Tempting of the Doom. Don't miss it!


	13. Episode 7, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO, GO, GO, GO; LET'S GO!

Episode 7: Tempting of the Doom

* * *

As far the official records were concerned, Project Shadow had never existed and any rumors about it were simply internet speculation and were treated as such by military intelligence. They only got worried when any real information about it was leaked.

Project Shadow had been started for the military to put research into creating genetically engineered super soldiers. The financers of the project, The Foundation Organization had their own agenda; they wished to create a body for their god to temporarily inhabit. It was part of a cultist plan to bring back the worship of the Destroyer.

Prof. Gerald Robotnik, chief scientist of the project; also had his own ideas. He knew perfectly well what would happen if he did what they asked. But he had no choice. His granddaughter was dying of a terminal illness and they were the only ones he could turn to for funding. He desperately wanted to save her and Project Shadow was the only means of doing so.

Shadow thought he had figured out the plot, finally answered the questions; but it seems fate had other ideas. There was still the matter of the gaps in his memory and why they were there. Why could he recall so little of his time on the Space Colony? And why did they bother him now? Before he had been so content with being to remember what he could remember about Maria. But now the giant canyons carved through his recall began to nag at him, begging to be filled.

He had put it down to the time he spent in suspended animation before being released by Doctor Eggman. But Gerald had later claimed that was his doing in the various messages he left behind for Shadow to find. If that was so then why had he bothered? Surely it would have been far easier to simply tell Shadow what needed doing to prevent the revival of the Destroyer?

Was there something more?

There were only brief moments during his creation he remembered; the rest had been wiped blank completely. Why… had something happened that Gerald did not want him to remember? Some event that would have affected how Shadow carried out the various 'missions' Gerald wanted him to do?

Why wouldn't he just let him know the answers?

Would this stupid puzzle ever be complete?

He growled in utter frustration and smashed his fist against the bark of a tree.

None of this made sense! He had made the revolve to find his own destiny many times before but no matter what he did, Gerald's puppet strings just kept lancing out of the ground to pull him back to this endeavor. Would he never be free?

"WHY ARE YOU MOCKING ME!" He screamed up into the rain, his cry carrying for miles through the ashen sky. Birds flew from the tops of the trees, vanishing quickly on the horizon with a chorus of calls. The black and red hedgehog just stood there on the cliff face overlooking the ruins of Central City, the rain mating his fur and causing his fused quills to sag a little.

G.U.N was gone. Every base on the entire planet had been destroyed and any recognizable fighting force torn to pieces. The Eggman Empire was salvaging what it could from the rubble and constructing their own fortress; robots enforcing martial law across the land.

It had been raining for days now, as if the Earth was grieving for the lost battle. Confederate ships were everywhere, making daily patrols in the skies. The various cities and settlement that were still intact were being used as supply depots as they created massive orbital defenses, preparing this planet to become their fortress against their on going war with someone intergalactic faction. As far as Shadow knew the fighting on Mars was still going on but in truth the hedgehog didn't care.

What had started all this was the death of that solider. It had been an accident, but nevertheless Shadow had ultimately been the one responsible. The scream, suddenly silenced; had opened old wounds and Shadow was finding it hard to ignore them and then his failures beyond it more and more apparent.

He had put himself on a role, trying to leave behind the blood soaked path of his past and became one of the planets defenders just as he thought both Gerald and Maria wanted him to. Not only had he failed, but now they had the audacity to try and drag him back in his moment of weakness back to that awful history. "I don't care anymore." He whispered as both fists clenched. "I don't care how or why what happened on ARK happened. Krish has already been defeated, I don't care what sins you had to commit to create me. Just get back in your graves." At this moment nothing mattered anymore.

The fate of these humans or even their whole planet, not even his own life. None of it meant a thing. He could jump off this cliff right now and crash into the ground far below, exploding into a bloody pulp and the lose would mean absolutely nothing to him.

The brief image of Tikal passed through his mind and he remembered with reluctance of their kiss. She had tried to heal some of the wounds he bore, the one etched deep into his soul, completely ignorant of the nature of those wounds. While their experiences and pasts were similar there was one fundamental difference between them. She was capable of doing good in the world. Shadow had been created by evil for evil and capable of nothing but evil.

"She's better off without me." He muttered. Not just her, but Sonic and all the others. Jericho had been right; he'd been trying to be a hero despite of his true nature. He had no right to pretend he was a savior when in reality he could not be further from.

"That line of thought is dangerous Shadow." A rippling familiar voice echoed to him and he stopped in his tracks.

"You…" The hedgehog began in spite as the light began to form around him into the transparent form of a strange being with long red and black horns. "No one tells me what to do! You got that Black Doom!" A triad of glowing orange eyes narrowed at him from the astral projection, the third and central one being the largest with a reptilian's pupil.

The hands were eerie to look at, cloven with two large talons and a third acting as a thumb. The physiology was an almost perfect match of that of Krish, and it didn't end with his limbs. The eyes, their outer shell shining like a doll's eyes. That was also reminiscent of the red eyes that still haunted his dreams.

"You should be pleased to know that I am prepared to overlook that little display of insubordination." The legged form drifted to his side and Shadow watched it, his eyes kept locked sternly on Black Doom's face. "After all, you do not yet fully understand the situation. I am not here to give you orders; I am here to give you council."

"Don't give me that bullshit." Shadow replied angrily. "You just want to control me, force me to do your dirty work. You're not the first to try."

"You are a foolish creature." Black Doom retorted. "I am simply your ally, not your betrayer.

You devoted yourself and whatever skills you have to guarding an insignificant planet and an insignificant race, all of it wasted effort. Even you must have known it was a fool's errand."

"What I choose to do with my life is no owns concern but my own." Shadow was now fuming with rage, his emotional turmoil boiling to a pitch. Without even thinking he fired another Chaos Spear with a quick gesture of his hand. The attack passed right through the projection and slammed in the ground, tearing open a crater.

"I am not speaking of your life; I am speaking of your destiny!" Black Doom stated without even being surprised. Shadow didn't reply, instead he just walked away. "Fine, turn your back on me if you must and even on your own creator; but be advised that by doing so you are also turning your back on Maria." Shadow stopped in mid stride. "I thought so. You can never leave your past behind Shadow.

It's what's formed you into the person you are today. You can no more escape your past than you can escape yourself."

"Shut up!" Shadow hand arched around and another Chaos Spear lanced through the air, passing through the transparent demon's body and forcing down a tree.

"By walking away you will be leaving behind the memory of the only person who understood you, who understood your nature and accepted it anyway." Black Doom continued as the tree collapsed behind him. "Are you prepared to do that?" A moment of stillness endured, the only sound being the pounding off the rain on the ground. The two of them simply stared at each other, not a word passing between them.

"You and I are not so different." Black Doom continued.

"How do you figure?" Shadow asked without moving a single muscle.

"We both want the same thing; **_justice_**." The apparition replied. "Both of us have seen great evil in our time.

Acts so abominable that they defy explanation and committed by those calling themselves righteous; committed by the ruling class who deceive their people into thinking that somehow they are free while being governed by them.

All of it transpired in the name of the state, but evil by any other name is still evil." Shadow found that despite trying he could not disagree. "I come to you now because you are chosen by fate to correct those grievous errors, to undo the evils committed by those who would play god heedless of the profound cost. You are the Trigger of Chance."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"No of course you don't." Black Doom replied with a certain amount of contempt in his voice. "After all, Gerald did take a white wash to your memories so you would forget me. Turned you into his fanatical little solider; first to try and destroyer the earth and then later, rather ironically, to save it." Shadow snarled and bared his fangs.

"Ok spill it, what do you know about the Professor?" Black Doom chuckled and folded his large arms.

"Prof. Gerald was a man with many missions in his life; to heal his grandchild, defeat the Destroyer, perfect dimensional travel and even advanced jumping technology for space craft. Few of which he actually managed to accomplish. His only ultimate success was you. For that I praise him, before he quite literally 'gave birth' to the savior of my kind."

"You…your kind?" Shadow began. "Just what are you?"

"A discussion for another time." Black Doom added quickly as if he was trying to change the subject. "As for the Professor, I know about him because he was the one foretold in the prophecy as the one who could create our great champion. I saw to it that that was carried out, so the oppression I and my fellows suffered would end and justice would be done." Shadow just stood there with wide eyes, looking confused.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked finally. The strange being chuckled apparently amused.

"Why don't we continue this discussion in a more fitting location?" He lifted his cloven hand and clicked his large fingers. A star like spark shone like a beacon, growing fast before it swallowed Shadow in its brilliance and he was gone. The light lanced through the trees and became a lighthouse on the cliff top.

When the light died out, both the black and red Hedgehog and the strange apparition were gone.

* * *

-

The entire 6th Confederate attack fleet was presently in orbit around Planet Earth. Construction had begun on special defenses that would allow them to use this world as a stronghold. It was their task to hold this planet until backup garrison troops arrived to relieve them. Using the ring in orbit as a foundation, they were building a giant set of floating fortress that curved along the ring itself, a huge row of guns pointing out in space. The Eggman Empire's robots were helping them speed up their construction. It had only been a few days since they started building and they were already 40 percent complete.

"Where am I?" Shadow demanded as the light faded and the view of the Earth from space became visible. That transportation had left like a Chaos Control; but that was impossible wasn't it?

"Do I really need to answer?" Black Doom's voice asked in reply. Shadow blinked to clear his eyes and then glanced around.

"This… this is…" He saw the familiar glass floor and walls of the observation area he had stood in so long ago.

"Yes, the ARK Space Colony." Black Doom finished for him as his translucent form appeared beside the Black and Red hedgehog. "You remember it don't you?" Shadow just stood there staring out of the window towards the planet.

"How can I possibly forget this place?" He asked before tearing his sight away unable to look at that familiar sight anymore. "Why have you brought me here?"

"Necessity." Was the reply. "Here, you will find more out about yourself and your nature than you can imagine. Also I fought it best to remind you of all you were about to forsake." Every word felt like a sledge hammer against Shadow's heart and he hardened himself to try and block them out. "The idea of space colonization was conceived by the human scientists over a hundred years ago.

It was five decades however before the technology was available, and even then the ARK only became physically usable after Prof. Gerald found the crashed remains of the battle station Armageddon.

It was from the remains of the Black Arms greatest fortress that he was able to achieve such amazing feats of engineer, mind staggering achievements that even outpace the greatest engineers alive today. On any planet."

"So what?" Shadow asked impatiently. "I already know that. He ripped off the Black Arm' technology, what do I care?" Black Doom hadn't a mouth but it was clear he was smiling grimly.

"Come with me." He stated and floated towards the door. Shadow stared after him for a brief moment, before he followed slowly.

The corridors of the ARK were just how he remembered. A welding, metal forged into near organic shapes that gave the interior of the space colony the feel of being alive. Having seen Black Arm technology was very similar, Shadow was willing to guess that Gerald had molded the ARK's very style of architecture off their ruins.

Eventually they reached a lock down door that lead into the heart of the space colony, where the controls for the various systems lay. All of it was concealed behind thick armored walls to protect them.

Black Doom raised a transparent right hand and a pulse of energy emanated from it, a shockwave passing through the air that made Shadow fur stand on end. The locking mechanism, on the side of the door clicked several times, before it rose out of the way; sliding into the ceiling above.

"What..." Shadow began at the sight before him. Fesonian Confederate soldiers everywhere, dozens of them within sight alone were working on the damaged interior of the colony. Down the many catwalks that lead to the central spire of the structure they marched, carrying damaged beyond repair equipment out and taking in new fresh pieces. Shadow, acting instinctively; cupped his hands ready to fire off a Chaos Spear attack. Black Doom stopped him by holding an arm out.

"Hold, they are here on my orders." Shadow paused just long enough to see that a few of them were actually repairing some of the damage the space colony had sustained over the five decades it had gone without maintenance. Parts that had been damaged as long as fifty years ago were all being attended to. It was like watching a hive of ants work from the inside.

"What is this…?" Shadow began staring around.

"A small token of my sincerity." Black Doom replied floating forward. "To you, I restore the place you call home to its former glory. These Fesonian constructors are under orders to rebuild the ARK. Very soon the space colony will be rebuilt to its original specifications." A sadistic gleam seemed to float momentary in the eyes of the multi- dimensional being. "And beyond that." One of the Confederates approached and stood before them.

"The repairs are almost complete to your specifications my lord." The Fesonian said with his head bowed low. "There was much damage done to the charged particle beam generator, which we believe was inflicted intentionally from the inside, but we did manage to correct it."

"Particle beam generator?" Shadow repeated. He shot a sharp glare up at Black Doom. "That's the Eclipse Cannon!"

"Think of it as part of my gift." The transparent form uttered without looking at him. "The restoration of your home, the complete restoration; so I must include the Eclipse Cannon, the weapon that pierces the stars." Shadow was taken aback, not by the offer itself but by the mere thought of it. "It is yours."

"The Eclipse Cannon is a weapon of death and destruction. All who've used it are marked with the burden of sin." He remarked.

"Sin?" Black doom repeated sounding disappointed that Shadow should so much as utter the word. "I hadn't realized you harboured such beliefs."

"I don't." Shadow replied. "But I have seen first hand what that weapon can do and why those who use it are sinful. If you have any morals at all, you'll destroy that thing." Black Doom narrowed all three eyes at the black and red hedgehog.

"Tell me Shadow, just what is Sin?" Shadow hesitated, finding he was without a defining answer. "Perhaps you should not use words without an understanding of their true definition." Black Doom's tone was contemptuous and set Shadow teeth grinding against each other. With this ominous reply he floated on with the Fesonian in charge of the ARK's repairs following in his stride.

Shadow stared after them for a moment.

"True sin is a lurking evil, a corruption that controls and manipulates those it needs into acting on its behalf. I can do away with such evil." Black Doom confidentially stated. There was not a hint of bragging in his voice. "But to do this I need to be free. This galaxy has long awaited the time when the Ritual of Prosperity can be enacted."

"Ritual of what?" Shadow asked catching up as they made their way across the suspended catwalk towards the spire within the ARK's interior. Below and above was a stretch of at least a mile before a flat surface curved out long the outer edge of the colony.

"My kind and I have been sealed in our prison for a very long time Shadow." Black Doom carried on. "Longer than you can imagine and we do not wish to endure anymore moment in captivity. We wish to see the suffering forced upon the innocent inhabitants of endless worlds ended. We wish to save them and only the ritual can give us the power to do that." When they reached the base of the spire, Black Doom turned around so all three eyes could lock directly onto Shadow. "But for the Ritual to be successful, we require all seven Chaos Emeralds as promised."

"Promised?"

"Your debt to pay." He gestured behind him towards the door into the elevator. The controls on the side glowed brightly for a brief moment before the doors slid aside. "Shadow, allow me to shed light on some details of your lost time within the Space Colony." The fesonian stepped aside and bowed as both Black Doom and Shadow passed by and entered.

"How do you know so much about me?" The hedgehog asked as the elevator descended. "How do you know so much about the ARK?"

"Why should I not?" Was the reply before the doors opened revealing a metal corridor beyond. "Despite your extensive stay on the space colony, I believe you have not explored all of it?" He added, interrupting before Shadow could press the matter any further.

"No." Shadow replied quite truthfully. "I was confined to the labs and testing facilities for my infanthood. I was only allowed to venture around the colony itself…" he paused for a moment. "…with Maria. There are many levels I have not had the chance….or the motivation… to explore."

"Then perhaps now is the time to acquire it." Black Doom just loud enough for Shadow to here. He led Shadow through both familiar and unfamiliar corridors, all of them leading up towards the asteroid encrusted outer-edge of the colony. The basic interior of the ARK Shadow knew already, but the outer edges themselves were still pretty much unexplored. Whatever knowledge he had about the space colony came from whatever the Professor and Maria had told him.

They passed Fesonians quite often, all of them going about various tasks assigned to them in the colony's repair work. No matter where they turned there was at least three of their kind. The colony had to be swarming with hundreds of them.

"Where are you leading me?" Shadow asked finally loosing patience.

"To show you one of the many things that makes this colony so special." Black Doom replied sharply as they reached a towering metal door. The floating being held out his hand and a small shockwave passed through the air. With a loud groaning the doors began to pull aside, scrapping angrily against the floor and ceiling until they had revealing a chamber beyond.

"What is this?" Shadow demanded as he stared out across the wide dark expanse before them. A long metallic catwalk stretched out to the far side of a divide so deep Shadow couldn't see the bottom.

"An experimental leap forward for Gerald." Black Doom replied as he floated inside. "The late Professor had many projects in the works before his death. The human military had commissioned him to make them weapons they could use to further their own expansion and control. This desire of course had been carefully orchestrated by Krish, but nevertheless Gerald complied and began work on these abominations." The transparent being floated forward.

Shadow watched him for a brief moment before following him down the catwalk further into the shape. The space belong them was a gigantic hollow cylinder with sparks of neon blue lightning passing between it as regular intervals. A large metallic mesh coated the ceiling above, attracting the bolts that zapped past the two of them now and then.

"This one is perhaps the least lethal of his creations. An engine, capable of folding space and allowing its user to travel great distances in a short amount of time." Black Doom came to a stop directly in the centre and gestured out at the expanse around him. "As one who understands the unity of time and space, I admire his ingenuity in creating such a device."

"A jump engine." Shadow stated finally realizing what Black Doom was getting at. The Blue Typhoon had had a similar construction built into it. It had allowed them to travel from Earth to Mars in mere moments, cutting the time it would have taken otherwise down by months. Doctor Eggman and Tails had jointly developed it for the ship. Had Gerald beaten them to it by five decades? "But why would Gerald build such a thing into the ARK? The colony has no such for such a thing."

"Gerald had ambitions for this colony other than it serving as the Earth's weapon depot." Black Doom replied. "I imagine he thought if he could move it from place to place, he could show the people on the Earth it was more useful as a means of space travel rather than a military base." Shadow knew full well how the army of the time would react to such a declaration. They would confiscate the technology and make sure to silence anyone who knew about it.

Gerald evidentially must have realized this too and hidden it away. By then he must have realized Krish was in control and did not want to give them a reason to invade the ARK until he was ready.

"All of this… I had no idea." Shadow muttered. Black Doom shook his head.

"Yes you did. You knew all of it. Gerald simply removed your memories so it slipped from your mind." In that moment a deep resentment of his creator had been placed in Shadow's mind. But he did not understand… why had Gerald seen fit to remove the Hedgehog's memories about all this?

"He just wanted me to be his little puppet." The hedgehog snarled clenching both fists at either side. "I thought he was acting benevolent all this time, but he was no better than Krish."

"You shouldn't speak ill of him Shadow." The transparent Black Doom muttered. "He did, after all, create you." The black and red hedgehog looked down at his hands and more anger than he could contain burned through him.

"And that's enough reason to hate him for eternity." Shadow didn't notice the satisfaction buzzing behind Black Doom's three eyes.

"Come Shadow, there is still more to learn here."


	14. Episode 7, part 2

His mind and body that of a four year old; Shadow glanced up through fearful eyes towards the tall and round shape of the elderly man standing above him. A pair of hidden eyes stared down at him from behind steely grey spectacles.

"Shadow... do you understand what I'm saying to you? He asked. The words put themselves into a meaningful message and Shadow opened his mouth, the newly developed speech centre of his brain now working.

"Yes Professor." He replied. Other people were stood around him, all of them wearing white laboratory coats. The tall man with the moustache above him smiled in response, apparently satisfied. Those behind him muttered in mixed conversation.

"Now listen carefully Shadow. My name is Gerald Robotnik."

"Gerald….Ro...bot…nik." The black hedgehog desiccated the words carefully for it was not in the collection that had been implanted into his mind.

"Yes that's right." The Professor stated with his smile widening. Shadow liked that smile. "Do you know where you are?" The answer to that question was already inside his head and a brief glance around was all the young hedgehog needed to confirm it.

"Space…space colony ARK?" The Professor nodded and those behind him clapped lightly.

"Very good." He leaned up and folded his arms behind his back. "Would you like to look around?" That was a different type of question from the others. It required an opinion of his own and curiosity to match. Shadow had been given information to speed up the learning process; that even he could figure out; but in terms of mental ability he still thought a little like a machine. "If so, my granddaughter will be glad to so you."

"Sure that's wise sir?" One of the men in the white coats behind the old man asked.

"Don't worry I know what I'm doing." Gerald assured him. "Maria, would you come in here?" Shadow watched as the thin row of men and women stepped aside and a young girl walked forward, looking apprehensive when she saw the small thing sitting there inside the glass crib.

"Grandfather?" She began looking up towards the Professor. He smiled at her gently.

"Maria, let me introduce you to Shadow." She looked back and stared at the small creature barely a foot tall, with large red eyes and black fur; a collection of short quills lancing out the back of his head.

"Hello." She began taking a short step forward.

"Hello." Shadow replied looking at her with the same curiosity she had for him.

"Do not let his appearance fool you child." The Professor told her. "He is another of the children we have on the colony." He ushered her forward before she could argue and stood them before each other.

Maria looked down at the black creature and from this vantage point could see that the top side of the clumps his quills were forming into were blood red, just like his eyes. They would have scared her, had she not seen past them and seen the innocence of childhood inside them.

Slowly she reached out and laid the palm of her hand against the side of the glass container. Shadow mirrored her action.

"Yes Professor Robotnik." The hedgehog stated suddenly. "I would like to see the ARK."

Shadow shuddered at the intrusive flashback, brought on by revisiting such a familiar place. He stopped for a moment and held a hand to his head.

"This is becoming annoying." He growled angrily to himself. By now he felt so messed he wasn't even if he wanted to remember what once filled the blank spots in his memory. Each time a gap was filled before it had brought about nothing but heart ache and pain.

"Why does fear bind you so?" The voice of Black Doom asked him as he stood there trying to regain his composure. "Answers you spent years looking for lurk within the depths of your mind. Do not falter now you are so close." Shadow glanced up. The transparent projection had disappeared completely.

"Where are you?" He demanded but got no reply. The black and red hedgehog growled and skated on, darting through the twisting junction of metal corridors that wormed through the ARK. While most of it was hollow, much of the colony's many facilities were a maze of metal.

It was here; through these long ago that Maria had led him as the scientists watched from afar to see how well the hedgehog interacted in a social environment.

Maria had shown him the corridors and the windows that gazed out into the stars. Passing by one now, he felt his defences break down again as he was hurled back into his own memories.

Now that his enhanced growth rate had taken hold, Shadow had the body of a ten year old hedgehog. His mind was developing far more quickly by now he understood why he was being observed and tested so often. He was their project, their great experiment. They would pod and poke him regularly to test his reflexes and physical development.

Shadow looked forward to the times when Maria came to lead him around the colony. While most of their meetings were under surveillance, he still enjoyed them. Maria would smile at him unlike the scientists. Besides the Professor himself, she was the only one who treated him as a being with a soul rather than a Petri dish full of bacteria to study.

"That's Sagittarius." She told him, gesturing off towards the stars and joining the dots with her finger. "And over there is Taurus." All Shadow could see of the stars were random points of light in the dark and had to force the image upon them to so much as make out the patterns she told him were there.

"I thought I might find you here." A voice began. Both Maria and Shadow glanced up to see the Professor walking towards them, that same warm smile over his face. "How are you today Shadow?"

"I am fine Professor." He replied without emotion. Gerald's smile did not fade despite this.

"Have you introduced Shadow to the colonists yet Maria?" He asked looking over towards his granddaughter. Maria hesitated briefly.

"A few of them grandfather." She replied looking sheepish. "But I think they're all afraid of him. I keep hearing them talk about him as the…" The blonde girl cast Shadow a side glance. He returned it and then nodded. "…the Black Doom or Devil's Trigger." The expression on Gerald's face changed hearing that. He breathed out through his nose and his brow descended into a deep frown.

"I see." There was something in Gerald's voice that suggested briefly to Shadow that there was more to his disappointment than the simple spreading of rumours. Quickly however the Professor's smile returned. "I wouldn't worry about that." He ruffled her hair playfully. "They'll get used to him over time. Why don't you go see if that young lad, Jericho, can play?" Maria smiled back at him.

"Ok grandpa." She replied, grabbing Shadow by the hand and running off him the hedgehog in tow. Shadow glanced back at Gerald and saw the old man talking to some other scientists, an exceeding worried expression on his face.

Coming to a stop, the hedgehog paused long enough to shake himself in the hope of dislodging any of the fragmented memories that might try to push themselves into his head.

"What's wrong with me?" He asked himself. "What happened to 'I no longer care!' Shadow?" He had tried to live his own life many times before, to follow a new path instead of the one the events on the ARK had left him with.

Always his efforts had been fruitless, as if it was pre-destined that he was doomed to search out the secrets of the space colony. "Why can't you simply let it go Gerald?" He directed the question at the space colony around him. It did not answer.

"His work is not yet finished Shadow, that is why he pleads with you from beyond the grave." Black Doom told him, the voice echoing from some hidden point; but something inside told Shadow he was closer to it now. "Defeating Krish and saving the Earth from destruction was but the first step of the grand master plan. There is still much for you to do."

"This is trying my patience Black Doom!" The black and red hedgehog declared tightening both fists.

"I am here to guide you on the next step, to fulfil your destiny and Gerald's long unrealized ambitions and free all of reality from unjust rule." The voice carried on. Following it, Shadow skated on growling as he went. "If you have the courage to break free from your fears then come to me and let us begin."

Angrily, Shadow flew on; the feeling that he was nearing Black Doom's hiding place intensifying as he did so. The world around him blurred as he went on, sliding through the maze from left to right leaving the startled working Fesonians in the dust.

Blurring questions ran through his mind was break neck speeds, all moving too fast to be seen let alone answered. Confusion was ripe in his mind.

"Shadow, I'd like you to meet Jericho." Before he even knew what was happening he was back, hurtling through some door into his own memories.

He was standing with Maria on one of the observation decks of the colony. She was standing before him, gesturing to a small boy of about ten. He had strange silver hair and was very short, even for his age. Hearing the word 'Shadow' he whipped around.

His face contorted in such a way it even made Shadow himself unnerved. It was a mixture of terror, raw fear and utter panic. The pupils of his brown and blue coloured eyes contracting and his mouth hung open. "Jericho?" Maria asked looking a little taken aback.

The boy staggered backwards at the mere sight of the black hedgehog.

"No…" He managed, his voice dripping with fear. "No…get….get it away from me!" His back slammed against the windows and still he kept trying to back up.

"Jericho, what's wrong?" Maria asked looking genuinely worried. The boy yelled out and pushed past her, making a break for the door on the far side of the deck. He bolted out it without looking back for a moment.

Maria stared after him, at a loss to explain that outburst.

"I'm sorry." She stated looking down at Shadow. "I…I didn't expect him to react like that."

"I don't understand." Shadow began. "Why was he afraid of me?" Maria sighed.

"I'm sure it wasn't anything personal." She replied giving the hedgehog the widest smile she could manage. "He's just used to having you around…just...give him some time." That Shadow had decided at the time he would do, but only the coming months it became clear that the boy had not intention of getting used to the hedgehog's presence on the colony. He was afraid of him and ran away as if confronted by the devil himself at the mere sight of Shadow in a corridor.

Over time, the fear seemed to spread from him to infect the rest of the colony. Its citizens, they were wary around him even in the Professors' presence. Only Maria treated him as a person from then on and Shadow came to depend on her more and more.

Back in the present as if nothing had happened, Shadow found himself standing outside the large metallic door that lead to the location on the ARK that was the most familiar; his favourite spot. The observation deck number 5.

Without a word he brought his leg up and then smashed it forward, breaking the door open so the metallic frame swung inwards.

Waiting for him by the windows, glaring down at the planet was the transparent form of Black Doom.

"Was that really necessary?" The projected form asked glancing back over its wide shoulder.

"No, but it was an effective stress reliever." Shadow replied wiry striding into the room. "I've had enough of this run around. You tell me exactly what you want and why Black Doom." His left hand arched and the sparked beginnings of a Chaos Spear began to culminate between his fingers.

"Although I can not really blame you, it seems that your experiences in this world have left you paranoid. You assume that when one seeks your help that they have an ulterior motive. You need your recall back more than I anticipated."

Memory sparked painfully in Shadow's mind. He stopped and held a hand to his forehead, hissing in pain. He dropped to his knees and supported his weight on his free hand. The world blurred around him and seemed to vanish out of sight.

An image passed before his eyes, a sweet reminder of time aboard the space colony he thought lost forever. As soon as it bloomed, the memory withered and faded like a flower in a cold winter. Before it vanished however Shadow was able to make out the image of a golden ring. The Professor was standing in front of it, his arms crossed behind his back as he stared into the swirling vortex in the centre. Staring back at him from out of that porthole were a triad of glowing orange eyes.

"Black Doom…" He began slowly. "You were here, fifty years ago; you were here with me on the ARK." The partly transparent form looked down at him with unblinking orange eyes. Slowly he nodded and Shadow just stood there silent ally.

"I was here much in the same capacity I am here now." He replied. "I can not leave the jail cell imposed of myself and the rest of my kind, so I came here in spirit."

"No wonder you knew so much about me." Shadow sighed. "You were here when it all happened."

"And powerless to do anything as the ARK and most of its civilian population came under attack by the evils on the Earth." Images of that day ran through Shadow's mind unbidden and no matter now much he tried to block them out, the horror kept slipping through. The blood soaked corridors, the noise and the fear, the walls crumbling as soldiers raced through the colony captured all they could and killing anyone who so much as got in their way. The colony's guards were mowed down and many of the scientists went with them. "The world below us is a special place and should be respected. But the humans became sheep for the evils abound to control and warp. They were and still are, simple cannon fodder to be used as their rulers see fit. Invasion was the very least they deserved."

"What would you have had me do?" Shadow demanded. "Have gone through with the professor's revenge and destroyed them all?"

"By no means." Black Doom replied, silently floating around Shadow's side like some phantom. "It is not death the humans deserve, but rather strike control." He gestured to the world below them and Shadow followed his gaze. "And why not? It is after all, what their groups and organisations aspire for; domination over one another. Why not give them the imperial rule they crave and lead them?" The black and red hedgehog chuckled once.

"You sound just like Eggman." He said giving the transparent floating being a side glance.

"I do not take that as an insult." Black Doom retorted brushing it aside as if it didn't matter. "Out of all the humans, Doctor Eggman seemed to be the only one that understands their need to be controlled and manipulated so that others may not do so for malicious purposes."

"What?"

"Control to save. Control to rescue them from their own stupidity." He continued with his third eye widening. "Control to ensure they are kept safe from tyrants and puppeteers. Control to bring them away from the path from the thieving and into the light." His words had a profound effect on Shadow. The black and red hedgehog stood there, wondering for the first time… that perhaps he had been going about it all wrong. Maria had begged him to save humanity, but what if the only way he could do was by following Doctor Eggman's example?

"No I won't." He said defiantly. "If the Confederates can hold Earth then let them have it, but I won't help them subjugate humans."

"I am not merely speaking of humans." Black Doom continued. "What I have said can be said for dozens, no _hundreds _of species scattered across this galaxy alone. All of them mere puppets for the true evils that exist to use..." He leaned closer to the hedgehog. "Evils like Krish."

"I don't care." Shadow replied. "I may be the Ultimate Life form, but I have no interest in ruling the lesser."

"But would you say that a system to prevent unjust rule is a bad thing?" Shadow was about to answer, but found he couldn't say anything without first thinking the words over. "There are multitudes of galaxies and universes all begging for order to unite them all under one banner and they war with each other to that end."

"You're trying to sell it to the wrong guy." The hedgehog replied and turned his back on the transparent being. "You have nothing to offer me in exchange for my help in creating a dictatorship like that." Black Doom's eyes were suddenly alight with sadistic humour.

"What is your ultimate desire?" Shadow didn't answer. He stood there with his arms folded in front of him. "You needn't speak; I know your heart and soul well enough." He waved a cloven hand off to his left and the translucent image of a young human girl appeared there. Long soft golden blonde hair was flowing around her shoulders with sea blue eyes sparkling like diamonds. The hedgehog unfolded his arms and stood there with short and swallow breathing. Slowly she faded away and Shadow was left staring after her with deep longing in his eyes. "With the Chaos Emeralds enhancing my own powers, I can reach across the divide and bring back any soul I desire."

Shadow whirled around to face Black Doom completely.

"You… you mean you can…." He stammered

"My goal is to undo the influence of evil across existence and ensure that such events do not repeat themselves ever again." Black Doom continued. "With the Chaos Emeralds I can free myself and others from unjust bonds and bring order to a chaotic universe riddled with strife and greed." He leaned forward to stare Shadow directly in the face with his large third eye. "You may consider restoring the one person you could call 'family' to life as a small reward for your assistance."

The prospect, the mere idea, had never so much as passed through Shadow's mind even once. Could he really do what he said he could?

"That's impossible." He stated out load. "No one can bring a person back from the dead." Black Doom appeared amused.

"You underestimate my powers Shadow." He began. "The greater of my skills are focused on the nature of the universe itself. I can bend and twist space to my own design. My abilities however are greatly limited while inside my prison. Once outside it however and amplified by the Chaos Emeralds, snaring a soul from the afterlife is not such a difficult challenge."

"Then prove it." The black and red hedgehog stated. "Prove to me you can restore people."

"If evidence is what you crave, I can provide it." Black Doom gestured towards the nearby control panel and the various lights upon it lit up, the equipment humming in response. "I have given the ARK's computer a map of the various star systems and faction territories you are going to encounter. You should go to the planet Hydra in Falcon Admiralty territory. In the ruins there you will find all the 'proof' you require." Slowly his form began to fade away. "While there Shadow, I would strongly suggest you observe all you can. Many destinies can be foretold in that place, but many can be lead astray by them as well." With that he was gone and Shadow was left standing there alone.

His mind was a battle field of conflicting thoughts and emotions. The impossibility of the situation was not lost on him, but hope; hope for restoration had been kindled in his heart and refused to be extinguished. He sank to his knees and glared down at the Earth through the glass floor beneath him.

Maria had loved this planet and he had promised to protect it, at least he thought he did; but now he began to doubt his own memories. Anything could have been implanted and censored by Gerald, trying to make Shadow into his perfect agent; using the ultimate life form to shape events long after his death.

He tried desperately to find sympathy with those captive down there, but faced with all this; in the mere prospect of undoing that terrible murder; Shadow found that the lives on the billions of people down there meant little to him.

While Shadow had yet to validate all of Black Doom's claims, the mysterious being was right about one thing. Earth was finished. There was no reason for him to remain here when there were far greater opportunities elsewhere in the universe.

"Your orders Commander Shadow?" He glanced up to see the Fesonian Confederate Black Doom had left as his second in command standing in the doorway.

"Commander Shadow huh?" The black and red hedgehog asked himself quietly as a twisted smile spread his lips apart. "I like the sound of that." He took one last look at the Earth.

It was beautiful from space, but on its surface its corruption was more than apparent.

"Commander?" The Confederate began when Shadow did not reply. The black and red hedgehog glanced up with the same icy stare he had summoned when he had first been released from suspended animation.

"Start up the colonies jump engine." He stated. "Take us to the planet Hydra in Falcon Admiralty territory."

The outside panels of the ARK suddenly starting glowing neon blue and the entire colony shone like a star that could be seen from the planet below. The outline of the ARK was surrounded by blue lights for a single spilt second, before the space the colony was occupying began to fold, rippling like the surface of water. Finally the ARK vanished, the light imploding to become a blazing stare before fading away.

From the surface Tikal watched as the star began to fade, her hopes of ever healing Shadow's heart fading with it. For lack of a better phrase, she could sense him relapsing back to the cold destroyer unleashed by Eggman from the depths of Prison Island.

His heart was being filled with nothing but anger and contempt and she could even tell by whom or what. Without Chaos to help her or her powers to transport her to him, Tikal was stuck here and was powerless to do anything.

"Please Shadow…" She whispered up towards the sky. "Please don't start hating again."

* * *

-

(In Chris' voice)

Eggman on planet Chimera, legendary thieves and Chaos Emeralds galore? A recipe for disaster? Find out next time on Sonic X as Sonic encountered Jet the Hawk for the first time in the Sonic Rider's saga, the Chimera chapter. Don't miss it!


	15. Episode 8, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

**Sonic Riders Saga; Chimera Chapter**

Episode 8: Enter the Wind Master

* * *

The air of planet Chimera was thick with a smell Hare could not immediately identify. It was a sort of a nutty scent but had a strange ground pepper smell mixed into it. Chuck had assured him that it was simply the smell of a different atmosphere. This planet, while its atmosphere had a composition that almost the same as that on Earth its hydrogen content was slightly higher. Perfectly breathable, but since they were not use to it would smell a little odd to them all.

"Metal City?" The rabbit like mobian asked himself as he sat on the deck of the Typhoon and stared out across Chimera's capital from the space ship refuelling and repair depot belonging to the Com-Fed space fleet. "Literally named, I'll give them that." Even from here he could see that most of the buildings were made of metallic pieces. A twisting mass of towers shaped like mushrooms with gleaming tops that reflected the sunlight.

Most of the injured people they had rescued from the Confederate transport ship had been transported away to be cared for by the various hospitals and facilities in the city. There were many who were so insecure and frightened that they did not wish to leave the ship. Most of that were the G.U.N military staff from the wreck of the Giant Wing while the rest were several individuals who refused to leave Chris' side. No one objected to their staying and let them remain aboard.

Chuck was aware that his son and his wife had been transported back to Confederation space along with many others to be part of their slave trade. He was worried. Anyone else who'd been told that would be. But he was the only one to receive such news. People all over the Earth had gotten news like that he was sure and half the people on the transport that had intercepted had seen their relatives marched off onto other ships. He hadn't the right to complain and rant when there was far too much to do.

Instead of worrying about, Chuck decided to engage in the common practise aboard the Typhoon and busy himself with something that needed fixing.

Unfortunately this was becoming standard practise for nearly everyone on board and before too long the entire ship had been repaired and was as good as new.

Luckily for them however it was clear they needed to go further than that. In order to compete with the far more advanced Confederated Empire ships, the Blue Typhoon was going to need one hell of an upgrade.

Shields, weapons and even the engines needed a complete overhaul.

"Can't imagine what he's thinking but the Lieutenant General told me you have unlimited credit while your here." The engineer in charge of the depot said when the subject of upgrading came along. He was a Falcon with bright red feathers with dark amber eyes, his jacket smeared with a black stain on the shoulder that Chuck first through was oil; but as the vessels going in and out of this depot throughout the day didn't run on oil he guessed it was something else. "That means you can afford just about any parts we've got in stock. Can't imagine they'd be much to fit that tug boat through." He looked past Chuck to the Typhoon. It was certainly small compared to the other vessels around it.

"We'll adapt." Prof. Thorndyke muttered narrowing an eye at him. The engineer chuckled once.

"Ok then, let's go through our inventory shall we?" In fresh clothes, a few good meals and after a shower; Francis felt much better. The near utter starvation of the transport ship and the ordeal of the invasion had left her much thinner than she had been before. She had allays been a little conscience of the fact that she had bulged around the middle, now her stomach was flatter than it had been for years and she was careful not to spoil it by gorging; no matter how much she wanted to.

She dried her hair with a towel before stepping out into Chris' room. While he was else ware, he had agreed to let Danny, Helen and herself use it. Like most of the quarters on the ship, it was large and spacious and resembled something one might expect from a penthouse rather than a front line ship. It had a personal bathroom, bedroom and living space. A large screen TV was placed on the wall, rendered utterly useless as the channels it was designed to pick up had their point of origin on another planet.

Danny wasn't here at the moment. Helen was asleep on the sofa in front of the TV. Francis managed a brief grim smile at the sight. After all she'd been through; Helen hadn't spoken once since the Confederate soldiers had thrown her into the cell with them. They had seen the aliens shoot her parents before they were loaded onto the transport and Helen had rushed to their sides as they lay on the floor. There had been a moment where they had been afraid Helen had been raped when she saw the wounds, but this fear was dispelled by Doctor Alicia before she left with the other crew from the Scimitar.

"They wouldn't have." The Doctor had told them shaking her head. "Confederate Fesonians are species purists. None of them would even consider such a thing with beings outside their own race. They consider us…well, lower life forms." The gashes and various other wounds on her body however suggested that the soldiers were not above beating up other life forms.

"Chris…" She heard her mutter in her sleep. Francis sighed and pulled the blanket covered the girl up over her shoulders.

"From what that Doctor told us, I expect you to be one those bureaucratic guys clogged with red tape." Sonic stated as he removed his old white gloves. They had been torn in several places during the fighting and defiantly needed replacing. He picked up a comb and began to drag it through his quills.

Lieutenant General Darion laughed. The sound of a Riggerical's laugh was quite peculiar. It sounded like splintering stone when struck with a blunt instrument.

"I know; I have a reputation for being a paper pusher." He replied folding his large arms. "I just let people think that. I like to see the expressions when they discover what I'm really like. Confuses my enemies in battle too." The blue hedgehog paused in his brushing long enough to shrug before carrying on.

"Guess it makes sense."

"Captain Alexander was a good friend of mine." The Riggerical muttered and Sonic paused again. "He upset some of the higher ups and got landed with that colonisation mission. I had to sign the release forms for his ship to depart orbit." Darion unfolded his arms and glanced down at his hands. "Feels now like I was signing his death warrant." Sonic remained silent as the Lieutenant General sighed out load.

"Going in battle, that is the way of an honourable warrior. Not many would do this in the face of an Ymir." Darion's expression suggested true remorse. "I've smoothed things over with the CORE Corporation so there won't be an investigation into what happened so you and this ships crew can operate here without hassle from the authorities."

"Appreciate it." Sonic replied.

"Of course the Com-Fed President may wish to have a word once he gets wind of who you are."

"Sonic, what do you think; this or this?" Amy asked walking into the room holding two outfits on hangers in each hand. One was a casual jeans and top while the other was a dress with a short shirt, white and pink acting in unison with a pair of long pink pants.

"Whichever." Sonic replied without looking around. "You know I don't have any fashion sense."

"Especially if all you wear are gloves and shoes." Darion remarked. "From what I've observed from you Mobians, it seemed randomly placed which of you wear clothes and which don't."

"Believe me it's not a subject you really want to go into." Sonic told him while Amy looked back and forth between the two outfits. The blue hedgehog finished pushing his untidy quills back into their normal positions and glanced out the window. The steady traffic of ships going and to and fro from the space stations in orbit had altered dramatically. Now there seemed to be more traffic coming down to Chimera than there was going away.

"What's up with the traffic?" He asked gesturing to the sight through the windows.

"Popular sporting events attracting a lot of visitors." The Lieutenant General replied causally. His expression turned trepid. "The masses aren't the visitors I'm worried about right now."

"Oh, then who are you worried about?" Amy asked.

"The President's daughter is expected to arrive on Chimera within the next few hours." Darion sighed rolling his eyes. "As if I didn't have enough on my plate I'm handed this burden. Thank you, Federal authorities."

"Something wrong with her?" Sonic asked without looking back as he slipped the new fingerless sports gloves on and flexed his hand to make them fit.

"Nothing if you approve of thrill seeking teenagers without a shred of common sense." The Lieutenant General replied scratching the back of his head behind his bony head protection.

"Watch it lizard man, you're talking to the guy who wrote the book on thrill seeking." The hedgehog stated with a wide grin, turning around and flipping the sunglasses down over his eyes. "Whatya think?" He asked, directing his question at Amy. She studied his new look, including a new pair of sneakers. The colour scheme followed his previous pair almost exactly, only with straps spread across the width and over the tabs.

"I think I prefer the classic." She replied with a soft grin, but she had been observing his exposed muscles more than his clothes. Sonic managed a frown. "Keep the glasses through." He flipped them up off his eyes and against his forehead. "Why's your President's daughter here anyway? What's this sporting event?" The pink hedgehog asked looking up towards Darion.

"The start of the Ex Galactic Grand Prix is being held here." The Lieutenant General replied. "It's a tournament held once every ten years. People come from all over the galaxy to compete with each other to see which of them goes home with the trophy and the title; Fastest Thing Alive." Sonic's left ear twitched. "The contestants all use Extreme Gear's across the various courses on planets through the region. Those skilled enough with them go through the rounds until they reach the finals. It attracts people from all walks of life. Last time, it was the Confederation's champion who won." Amy looked stunned.

"The confederates get to enter as well?"

"Of course." Darion stated. "All contestants with the entry fee are accepted, regardless of race or even if there's a war in the works. Since they won last year, their empire's sending a representative to oversee the tournament. That's why I'd rather not have to deal with the President's daughter right now. It's a pain in the ass I can do without."

"Using extreme gears…" Sonic muttered leaning against the side of the wall. "It sounds like cheating to me."

"Not everyone can be as fast as you Sonic." Amy reminded him. "It's a shame we don't have these Extreme Gear things, or know how to use them. We could have entered." Sonic shrugged.

"Ah we've got more important things to do." He remarked. "Besides, I already know I'm the 'fastest thing alive'. I don't need to prove it." Amy blinked in surprise.

"That was a….strangely… mature thing to say." She walked over and held her palm against his head. "Sure you're feeling ok?"

"Ha ha." Sonic muttered sarcastically with levelled eyebrows.

"You're taking your plight rather casually." Darion observed out load, holding a claw up to his scaly chin. "You are, after all effectively stranded here until your ships updated. And even when you get back up into space you've nowhere to go. Yet here you are acting as if you're on vacation."

"Thanks for reminding us." The blue hedgehog muttered and his glasses fell down over his eyes again. "Guess we should be kinda down, but we all learned a long time ago that that kinda thinking gets you nowhere."

"One is only truly defeated if one thinks they are defeated." Amy replied affecting a very bad Chinese accent as she hung the pink dress over one arm, finally deciding that would be the she would use. Darion looked confused both at their attitudes and by the attempt at a joke.

"Dark Oak told us he's hidden another Chaos Emerald somewhere in the city." Sonic added in as he walked past. "I don't get why he's leading us around like this, but it's vital we get at least some of the Chaos Emeralds back."

"Why?" The Lieutenant General asked. "What's so special about them?" Sonic managed a short laugh.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." With that final cryptic statement, the blue hedgehog walked off out the door with Amy in tow leaving Darion to pound it alone.

"Out of the one thousand six hundred people we had onboard the Blue Typhoon before we reached Chimera; only five hundred have decided to remain with us." First Lieutenant Milford was in self appointed charge of the numbers of people, refuges from Earth, they had to deal with. "That includes my own platoon and most of the others from the Giant Wing. The others we can find room for. The ships full of unused space."

"Don't overdo it." Sam Speed remarked. "This ships sees a lot of action, sure you want civilians on it?"

"It's Sonic's reputation." The Lieutenant replied with a sigh. "Most are refusing to leave with the others for Com-Fed's medical centres and relief facilities as they feel more secure in the presence of their hero." Reminded of Sonic's reputation as the 'fastest-thing alive' Sam slumped his shoulders. He had once been known as the Speed King, the fastest thing on the Earth; that is until Sonic dropped in and proved he could out do Sam with ease. He could still remember how crowds used to chant his name and how he had fan clubs all over the country. Then as if some cosmic force had clicked his fingers, he was lucky if anyone could remember his face.

"Something wrong?" Milford asked noting the anguished look on Sam's face.

"Oh, it's nothing." He replied but his tone wasn't very enthusiastic.

Without warning the door was kicked open, nearly flying off its hinges as the intruder bragged in.

"Alright, where are those losers?" Fang the Sniper asked. He strode into the galley with his hands on his belt and hat tipped over almost hiding his eyes. He had covered considerably from his trip on the Confederates transport vessel. He had regained his lost weight and had acquired some clothes similar to those he was used to wearing.

The weasel scanned the room with a single turn of his head. "Ok, why isn't this ship moving? We've got a long way to get back to Earth."

"Firstly, we're not going anywhere until we outfit the ship with some bigger guns and get the Chaos Emerald." Sam told him, un-phased by Fang's attitude.

"And secondly, who made you boss around here?" Milford demanded. "You're a wanted criminal."

"Don't lecture me about the law." The weasel replied with a wide sadistic grin over his lips. "G.U.N's been crushed so their 'rules' don't apply, especially all the way out here."

"That's where you're wrong." The Lieutenant barked sharply. "As long as my platoon and I function, G.U.N is still alive and kicking in us. We're the law around here." Fang just snorted loudly.

"You got not hold on me."

"As long as I have this I think I do." Was the Lieutenant's reply as he pulled his gun from its holster and held it up.

"Match." Fang sneered reaching for his own weapon, only to find that his weapon was missing. "Oh yeah that's right they took it off me when I was loaded on the transport." He muttered to himself seeing he hadn't even a holster. Suddenly his expression turned to a sheepish one. "How's about we all forget this incident ever happened."

"Fang… let me make this very clear for you." Milford began slowly. "We'll take you back to Earth as…eventually… that's where we'll all be going. Until then however you're going to be a very short leash."

"How short?" The weasel asked with drooping ears.

"To the point of strangulation." The way he said it defined argument and the weasel was just left standing there in silence. "There's nowhere to run Fang, no back alley to hide in this time. You're wanted for crimes ranging from petty theft to murder. So much as a foot goes out of line, and we'll dump you on some frozen rock in the middle of some god forsaken asteroid field. Got that?" Fang just nodded. "Good. Now get outta my sight…" Fang backed off towards the door. "And don't get any ideas. I can guarantee that someone is going to be watching you like a hawk. And I've heard Com-Fed's laws have far worse penalties than those you get on Earth so watch it."

"Oh happy day."

Espio had been listening outside. He grinned at hearing the conversation. At least now they didn't have to worry about Fang getting in their way and Vector's plan could go ahead as planned.

* * *

-

"Ok this is like shore leave right?" Hare asked; tipping his new straw hat that he had borrowed from Cream's wardrobe to shade his eyes from the harsh flare of Chimera's sun. It had to be this continents summer and the heat was nearly unbearable.

"No." Sonic replied irritably. "The only reason we're going into the city is to find the Chaos Emerald Dark Oak's thing told us is here." No one decided to mention the fact that they only had Dark Oak's word that there was indeed a Chaos Emerald hidden somewhere in the city.

"Well while we're all looking you don't mind us going through some of the local produce for good food, do you?" Topaz asked in her own summer attire. "That stuff that they give out as rations for Com-Fed ships is disgusting." To replace their own stocks, they had had to take space travel rations from the Colony ship Scimitar. A form of instant soap and bread that was more than just stale. The blue hedgehog's frown deepened.

"Oh alright." He relented. "If you wanna look for supplies, go ahead." Chuck began handing out devices that looked like pocket watches.

"These are my new Chaos energy radar devices. Providing the signals not being shielded, these should pick up any trace of a Chaos Emerald." He stated. They spilt up into several teams. Sonic, Amy and Knuckles would go off into downtown and look there. Bean, Hare, Rouge, Cream and her robotic guardian Emerl would search the market district.

Chuck stayed behind to man the ship and take delivery of the parts for the ships upgrade. He was expecting several new weapons systems to come along as well. Bark also lingered as his raw strength was going to be required with the installations.

"Say, where's Chris?" Amy asked before they left.

"He's staying behind as well I think." Chuck replied. "He's got a lot to do. We picked up some old friends from the Confederate vessel and he's been busy with them."

"Old friends?" The pink hedgehog repeated. "Not Francis and Danny?" Chuck nodded sadly.

"Helen too." He added. "They've been though a lot and Helen hasn't said a word since we rescued her." Amy's eyes were alive with horror and she placed her hands on her mouth as if to silence herself.

Sonic had been listening nearby. He forced a surge of anger down, fighting to control a growing resentment of Fesonians that he knew was not healthy.

"Come on Amy, let's go." He muttered walking off.

At the far end of the landing pads, Darion watched as a shuttle made its final descent from the upper reaches of the atmosphere and descended towards the appreciate landing pad. It was being escorted down by several fighters and when it neared the ground, the four of the broke off and allowed the ship to descend on its own.

"Great…" He muttered to himself after a long sigh. "Well I had best make the…guest comfortable." He began forward but stopped when he heard someone call out for him. Looking back he saw two human boys running towards him. He recognised one of them from amongst the crew of the Blue Typhoon. The other was dark skinned and unfamiliar to him.

"Lieutenant General!" Chris called out before he came to a stop.

"Wait is it boys? I'm sort of busy." He asked glancing back at them.

"We just want to know…" Danny began as Chris paused to catch his breath. "What are you going to do with all the refuges we brought here?" The tall lizard looked a little puzzled at the question.

"I thought I told your captain? They'll be put into a relief program and disturbing to various camps across our territory."

"Camps?" Chris asked sounding a little shocked.

"Don't let the name fool you." Darion assured them. "They're not really camps, but rather small towns built to accommodate those sorts of large numbers of people. They'll be comfortable there and looked after."

"A lot of them have relatives on other transports…" Chris began and watched as the Riggerical's lips pushed themselves into a frown. He could instantly tell just by looking at them that their interest and reason for asking was perhaps more personal than it was for the general good of their people.

"I'm sorry boys." He replied letting his shoulders drop. "But those transports would be crossing the badlands back to Confederation territory by now. They're well beyond our reach." The look of despair crossing both their faces made him cringe a little. "Now if you excuse me, I have work to do." Without another word he walked off towards the shuttle which by now had touched down on the platform and the ladder had been lowered from the entrance, several people standing outside it.

"I guess we shouldn't really have asked." Danny began. "We knew the answer…but I suppose we just needed to hear it officially." Chris didn't say anything in reply.

"What do you mean she's gone!" They suddenly heard the Lieutenant General shout so loud everyone in the depot could hear him. The two boys looked up to see some sort of commotion down by the shuttle.

Quickly he ran up to see what the matter was.

"Its just like I said sir, the young girl took off the moment we landed." The pilot of the shuttle replied spreading his arms. "We tried to stop her, but before security could arrive to escort her into the building she jumped the fence and they lost her in the crowds." The expression on Darion's face was a difficult one to understand at first as he hadn't the facial muscles humans had, but just guessing, Chris guessed it was that it was one complete and utter frustration. His scaly lips were pressed together in the Riggerical equivalent of an incredibly deep frown and his emerald eyes were narrowed to near silts.

"We searched the compound and surround area's sir." One of the guards hastily added, seeing his commanding officer about to blow his top. "But from indications she planned on doing this even before she arrived." The Lieutenant General paused to draw in a long breath through his upturned nostrils. Everyone tensed, expecting him to explode in anger.

Instead he showed remarkable restraint and simply stood very still.

"Find that girl." He said simply. "I don't care how many people are in this city for the start of the tournament, if the President gets wind of this we can say hello to a court martial, or worse." He jabbed a clawed hand off in the direction of the city. "Scour every inch of this planet if you have to; just find that trouble making federal pain in the ass!" The soldiers saluted and bid themselves a hasty retreat.

His tail smacking the ground angrily behind him, the Lieutenant General walked off snorting occasionally. Chris watched him go.

"This is the third time during a sporting event that the President's daughter's taken the opportunity to ditch her escort." One of the pilots sighed rubbing the back of his head.

"What's her name?" Chris asked looking up. The pilot blinked and then reached into his jacket pocket.

"Her name's Sera, she left her passport behind. She can't get of this planet without it." He withdrew it and passed it to him. Chris flipped it open and stared at the picture. It showed a very human looking girl sticking her tongue out in the direction of the camera. She was a brunette with dull green eyes. Her hair was long, in two long braids down either side of her face and a long pony tail out behind her. Her ears were feline like, sticking up above her head and adorned with a short brown fur that wasn't anywhere else on her body. Her clothes included a bright pink jacket and canvas yellow top and shorts, a backpack draped over one shoulder. Chris's attention was drawn to the cat-like tail swaying out behind her.


	16. Episode 8, part 2

The first problem that faced Vector was that in order to carry out even a half decent rescue attempt, they needed a ship. Not just any ship either. It had to be something that could out duel a Confederate vessel, out compete their fastest ship and only needed to be crewed by five of them.

Unfortunately, it looked doubtful they were going to find such a ship here. All vessels parked in and around the depot were either slow cargo ships or attack class Com-Fed ships that looked like they'd taken a hammering.

"A new ship?" The coordinator in charge of vessel deployment on the grounds of the depot repeated looking back at the crocodile in surprise. He was of a species Vector did not recognise, with large horns before a bony crust on the top of a head with short green quills running down his back. "What's wrong with the one you've got?" The Blue Typhoon was still docked nearby awaiting the parts Chuck had ordered.

"Strictly speaking it's not our ship; we're just hitching a ride." Vector replied spreading his arms out. "Got the kind of thing we're looking for?" The strange being shook his head.

"Sorry mate, not the sort of vessel you need." He replied wiping the engine fuel of his hands with a white piece of clothe. "We just take in the old stuff that's used in the Com-Fed space fleet. Not much comes by here that's that good." Vector did little to hide his disappointment. "Why don't you try the Space centre across town?" He added, gesturing vaguely off in the direction of the city. "They deal with custom made jobs. Got enough money and they'll build you a ship to whatever specifications you need."

"But we don't HAVE any money." Rei protested later as Chaotix made their way through the streets of Metal City.

"'Course we do." The crocodile replied putting his hands on his hips. "That General guy said that we have unlimited credit."

"Yeah but that was for repairing and updating the Blue Typhoon." Espio reminded him giving the crocodile a sour expression. "Not for a completely new ship."

"Ah they'll never know." Vector waved off his concerns as the chameleon's usual pessimistic outlook. "Besides, they can't charge us for just looking can they?" Even from here they could see space centre they were told about.

It was large expanse of land that rivalled the depot in size. Ships of all kinds were laid out in neat lines for passers by to see and not one of them looked like the old tankers the depot had stacked up against each other like sardine cans. These were all streamlined new models, their hulls polished with the utmost care.

Charmy whistled at the sight of them.

"Vector." Rei began almost talking to himself. The crocodile looked back over his shoulder. "You think we should have told Cream about her mother?" The expression on Vector's face did little to give away what he was thinking.

"Yeah, I mean can we really leave her in the dark about this?" Beck asked voicing his own concerns. Charmy nodded several times enthusiastically.

"No." Espio told them. "If we tell Cream that then she'll do everything in her power to come with us." The chameleon lowered his head. "This trips going to be far too dangerous without her in the mix."

"He's right boys." Vector added turning to look back at the ships before him. "Cream's better off with Sonic and those guys than with us. If we don't tell her about this then she won't disappointed if we fail." His scaly lips pushed together into a frown. "Lord knows I will be."

"Welcome gentlemen." A voice called over to them. They all looked up in unison to see a human walking over to them. He was short with a pencil thin moustache and a shock of black hair. "Interested in some of our latest models? CORE corporation finest jump vessels. Or perhaps you're interested in custom jobs?"

"We're looking for a ship on the market yeah." Vector replied. "But we're not just going to buy the first thing someone puts in front of us."

"Of course not." The human agreed with his head lowered respectfully. "Fine upstanding gentlemen such as yourselves are out for something with class and performance." Espio grimaced at the shoddy tactics involved to draw them into a sale, something he'd expect from used car dealers back on Earth.

Vector and the owner of the centre discussed what they needed, such as fast vessel with impressive firepower and minimal crew required.

"Oh my, that is a request and a half." The human muttered, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing what looked like an electronic notebook. "Ships with those specifications are hard to find as quicker and more powerful often means extra crew required.

A custom job may be your best option I'm afraid." Which would charge extra in commission; Espio thought to himself dryly. "Actually, I think you're in luck." The human added quickly. "I do believe we've got something that may be exactly what you need." He lead them through the rows of ships lined up either side towards the back of the centre where, Espio guessed, the less presentable ships were hidden away from public view.

There were several of the battered old tankers they had seen at the depot here, most of them with dents that looked like asteroids had bombarded them before they landed. Some of the streamlined vessels were here as well, only these hadn't been given a coat of wax like the others.

"This it?" Vector asked as they stopped before one of them. It was dark green with blue streaks across it for show. There were two thrusters at the back and three at the front, short wings out either side making it look like some bizarre giant metallic pigeon.

"Its not one I usually like to show customers." The human stated. "It's a ship of the Falcon Admiralty navy. A deserting captain from the last conflict sold it to me." Espio looked the ship of sceptically. It didn't look like the kind of thing he was expecting.

"Can it out run a Confederate ship?" Vector asked.

"Oh Falcon ships are renowned for being the fastest in the known galaxy sir." That was the reply that made the crocodile grin from ear to ear. "It's also a small ship so minimal crew is required to operate it."

"What about its guns?"

"It's a scout only so I'm afraid is not going to make much of a dent in any attack vessels armour plating." Still, two out of three was better than nothing and Espio could see Vector didn't want to push their luck with a custom made deal.

Suddenly a loud roaring broke the conversation up. The human looked up into the sky and smiled. "Ah he's back early." Chaotix followed his gaze to see a ship descending from the atmosphere towards the centre and the landing zone at the very back. The ship was blood red and resembled Thunderbird 3 in shape, with three large thrusters around its bulk and a cone like front. Vertically it descended before it slowly approached the ground using burners on its underside to slow the fall.

"What ship is that?" Vector asked; looking at the space craft as it gently touched the ground and the engines cut out.

"It's a custom made." The human replied gazing at it fondly himself. "Its captain's a good friend of mine."

"With a lot of money?"

"With a lot of money." The human manager repeated without even realizing what he was saying. "Now that's the kind of ship you gentlemen need, fast, heavily armed and minimal crew means minimal wages." Espio sneered at the man in disgust. "Now are you sure I can't interest you in a custom job? Or will you be going with the Admiralty model? Both offers come with fuel and ammunition supplied."

"The admiralty model will do just fine." Vector stated with a grin.

"Very well sir. How will you be paying, by cash or credit?"

"Credit, send the bill to Lieutenant General Darion." He replied. The human looked a little startled. "We're good friends of his."

"Sure that's what they all say." Espio heard the man mutter and he began pressing his fingers against the pad in his hand. The chameleon noticed that Vector's attention was drawn more to the red ship than the other on. He stood there admiring it and Espio could see then and that there was a plan hatching inside that psychotic brain of his.

"Oh dear." The man began. "It seems that the Lieutenant General's military fund is refusing your request." His tone suggested that he had not been expecting any other outcome.

"Look I'm sure we can come to some arrangement." Rei began.

The man smiled wiry.

"Yes I'm sure we can."

The next thing any of them knew was that they were being tossed through the air to crash into the street outside, hurled from the arms of gorilla sized beings acting as security.

"And don't come back until you get authorized credit!" Was yelled after them.

"You mean man you!" Charmy called out after them sticking his tongue out.

"Give me five minutes…" Espio muttered angrily reaching for a throwing star. Vector grabbed him by the arm to stop him from going.

"Forget it. Don't waste the metal." He stated picking himself back up. Well, clearly that approach was not going to get them anywhere. "Ok, so that didn't go exactly according to plan."

"You're telling me." Beck stated, holding his head up high to hold back the flow of blood from nose as he had smashed his face on the ground when they were thrown.

"I guess we're going to have to look elsewhere." Rei muttered and then turned to look directly at Vector. "Unless of course you have a better idea." The smile across those scaly lips was a clear indication that that was the case.

"Boys, you know I don't go above the law…" He began.

"There was the time you used an international criminal organisation to get hold of a G.U.N ship." Espio reminded him.

"And the time you beat up a load of soldiers to help the G.U.N coup succeed." Beck added with blood running down from his left nostrils.

"And the time you…" Charmy began before Vector waved their reminders.

"Ok ok." He snapped. "I don't… USUALLY… go above the law…" He turned back to look into the centre. "But we're going to get that ship one way or another." His gaze was locked red vessel just visible behind the main building.

"You mean we're going to steal it Vector?" Charmy asked with the ravenous hint of childish anticipation in his voice.

"Not steal, just borrow." The crocodile replied.

"I've heard that before." Espio muttered.

"Boys…" Vector started with a wide grin putting his hands on his hips and widening an eye. "Break out the gear and camouflage netting, we're coming back here tonight for a little midnight shopping." Espio put a hand to his forehead in despair.

* * *

-

Sonic felt like he was following a trail of purposely laid breadcrumbs.

The technology industry of Chimera's main city was not that much different from the cities back on Earth. It was an interconnected mess of highways and tall buildings with surfaces almost like glass.

Skywalks connected the buildings, lancing over the roads like bridges. The ground beneath them was devoid of litter or even a bubblegum wrapper, as if the people here wouldn't even consider dropping any. Not a single wall around them had the mark of graffiti tags. As anxious as he was to get back home, he found that he actually liked the look of this place. Knuckles had compared the architecture of the buildings to mushrooms.

They had a wide foundation and an even wider top, rows of lights coming from windows and neon illuminations that were clear decorative.

Thick crowds were on the streets tonight; dozens of different species passing them by within the space of a minute. One of them, Sonic observed; could easily be mistaken for a dinosaur. A bony frill and triad horns along with dull brown scales stood out so much Sonic turned to look. The alien noticed he was be scrutinized and gave the hedgehog a stern glare.

"Whatya you looking at?" He asked in a deep voice, showing his mouth was even like that of a triceratops.

"Nothing." Sonic replied quickly, eager to end the awkward moment. The reptilian just hissed out through his nostrils and carried on through the crowds.

"Let not try to draw anymore attention to ourselves." Knuckles reminded the blue hedgehog, pulling him back after Amy as they made their way further towards the town centre.

As they walked, Sonic decided to take in the sights; careful to avoid staring at someone with striking features. Some of the buildings in the distance were far taller than those here and now silhouetted against the night sky, they shone like stars. Shaped like medieval towers and outlined by auras of white.

The centre of town had dozens of large screens hung up on the sides of buildings. They were similar to those on earth and had to be used for public announcements and other things. One of them nearby was playing a repetitive piece of music that one would expect to be piped into a department store.

"I think the signal's coming from around here." Amy stated, tapping the screen of the oval device in her hand as it blipped. Sonic wasn't listening; he was too busy paying attention to the adverts on screen.

They weren't all showing the same thing. One was a world news report and several others were commercials.

A car, or something similar, was being advertised on the far left. It looked like a car, but was more streamlined than anything any of them had seen before. According to the text; the 'Conejo' was a speed performance vehicle and was available for around 5,000 KP. Exactly what currency that was Sonic wasn't entirely sure. Another was for something called a Rengoku; which looked like a surfboard of some kind.

"Rengoku, the latest Extreme Gear from Advanced Sports Hardware; available from all good sports stores." A voice announced as the board was rotated around on its axis, showing it was partly transparent in places; pieces of streamlined equipment just visible inside. The edges were silver and smooth, with tips at both ends turning jagged and blood red.

Sonic glanced around. A lot of people seemed to be interested in the commercial, a small crowd gathering just below the screen.

"I wish could have one." Someone muttered. Another laughed.

"You can't afford an Extreme Gear, not to mention fly the thing."

"What? I can use a Rengoku if I had the chance." The first replied sounding a little sour.

"Try saying that after you've lost a few pounds and you may sound more convincing."

"Now if I were Dark Oak, where would I have left that Emerald?" Knuckles asked himself, glancing around at the near endless city. "Want to narrow it down for us?" Amy opened her mouth to say something when suddenly the blipping changed pitch and the words '_Jamming Wave'_ appeared instead of the radar.

"I'd like to…" She replied tapping it to try and clear the image. "But I think I lost the signal." She paused. "No wait, the radar signal's being jammed." The red echidna glanced over her shoulder.

"Well un-jam it."

"Do I look like Chuck to you?" She asked back giving him a side glance. "I just press buttons, don't ask me to do mechanical stuff." Knuckles decided it was in his best interests not to say anything in reply.

"Which way did it say the Emerald was before?" Sonic asked leaning over it to get a look of his own.

"Over there, I think." Amy replied, gesturing off in front of her vaguely. The blue hedgehog looked up to see a tall building before them, taller than the others nearby. It had the appearance of an office building of some kind; but the shape was an illusion. The entrance showed it was a museum but since it was to dark it was clear the place was closed.

"Guess we come back tomorrow." Sonic sighed with the edges of his ears drooping.

"Or we could…" Amy began slyly.

"You've been hanging out with Rouge too often." The red echidna muttered, half closing his eyes. He stared up at the building, trying to feel the Emerald's presence there. "I can sense a 'muffled' Chaos energy aura, but I can't feel anything definite through the glass."

"Must be that same energy absorbing stuff we saw…" Amy began but she never got a chance to finish. Suddenly the windows near the top of the building stars, spraying out in a shower of glass shards. The crowds below had to cover their heads as it rained down.

One by one, three shift shapes came hurtling out of the hole and out into mid air. They were far too high up to see what they were but as they each passed by one of the screens, Sonic could see the dark outline of three figures on boards.

"Hey, what's that?" Knuckles called up, gestured up as the three blurs shot overhead, each leaving a fading trail of light behind them. The device in Amy's hand leapt alive and the icon representing the presence of the Chaos Emerald shot past her.

"Sonic, the Emerald!" She called out, but by then Sonic had already got the message. He was a blur, moving along the ground after the three others as they soared down towards the road. Sirens suddenly began blaring and dozens of cars, or this planet's equivalent, began following. Red and blue lights were blaring from their tops, showing that they were law enforcement.

The leader grinned maniacally, the large fist sized jewel in his hand. A glowing yellow rock, the very feel of its energy sending shivers up his spine and along each of his green feathers. That had almost been too easy.

Those cops following behind them had no idea just who they were trying to catch.

He glanced back to see how the others were doing. He smiled at the sight. They were having fun dodging around the cars, swaying side to side with such speed as to leave the police baffled.

"That's enough Wave." He called back. "We got what we came for; now let's just get outta here!"

"Jet, we've got company!" One of his comrades called out and the Hawk glanced up just in time to see a blue blur hurtle into their path from above; landing a short distance in front.

"Not a problem." The bird like being replied with a brief smile spreading over his beak.

Sonic readied himself as he shot around to face it expecting to catch them off guard with his quick reaction time. But instead the first shot past him faster than he imagined it could. He could the brief image of a blur of green feathers before it lanced past. "Sonic the Hedgehog…" The hawk muttered, recognising the hedgehog in the spilt second their eyes met. "Of all the luck."

Another tried to shoot past and Sonic in a dazed state was going to let it. Knuckles glided in at the last second and threw a dizzying blur of punches forward, finally scouring an upper cut on the rider.

He cried out and was sent flying upwards from the blow, his board flying out from under him and smashing into the ground nearby. In the brief overhead light, the echidna could see the one he had dealt a blow to was a being larger than himself with grey feathers. Before he could get a better look, it caught the end of the board of the third one and shot past after their leader; flying into the entrance of a car tunnel and around a corner; the police vehicles flying after them.

"Shoot!" He muttered between clenched teeth, knowing he'd never be able to catch them now. Amy finally managed to catch up, being as fast as neither Sonic nor Knuckles. Before she could say anything, the board dropped rolled to her feet landing upside down. The board was one of those 'Extreme Gear' things, bronze down the middle with a metallic surface and almost plastic around the edges. It was partly golden orange, with various patches along the back and underside a very dark blue almost black in fact.

An exhaust vent barley half a foot across lay on the back, a small horizontal grate covering it. From this vantage point she could see a crest engraved in bronze placed upon it. The image of a bird, with feathers arched around it forming a circle.

Before she could observe anything more, Sonic snatched the board from the floor and took off with it.

It was clear those things could move faster then he could run, he could see that even from here. There was only one way he was going to catch up with them and get those Chaos Emeralds, and that was if he beat them at their own game. Casting the Gear up into the air, he sent it spinning ahead of him like a discus. Propelling himself up into the air as a fast pace of his own, he and the board met in mid air. Once they connected, the two's combined speed spent it rocketing forward. It could go from stationary to high speeds instantly while he needed a run up, by which time they would have gotten away.

"Surf's up…" Sonic muttered to himself, before a thick beam of light lanced out the underside of the gear and he was propelled forward along the ground with a sonic boom shaking out into the air behind him.

Barely managing to slide between the cars in front, Sonic found that manoeuvring this thing was not as easy as it looked. His arms flayed out either side as for a moment he nearly lost his balance had he done so he would have been sent tumbling back into on coming traffic. He was used to fast speeds, but not on this thing.

Passing the cars, he soured forward and past the first of those on hover boards. There was a large fat one and a smaller skinny on. The skinny one was doing the riding while the fat one, deprived of a board of his own, was hanging on for dear life.

Sonic ignored them and carried on towards the leader. It was him the hedgehog found he was more inclined to go after. The hawk like being glanced back over his shoulder, long feathers waving out behind him when he noticed he was being tailed. Sonic got a good look at his features then. It appeared almost mobian, with a similar body to Sonic himself. Even the same dress style, with a pair of white gloves and red sneakers. He had long green feathers and an arched beak, dark shaded feathers along the outer edge of his arms and legs. His eyes were concealed behind a pair of orange tinted goggles.

Sonic drew up along side him and the two carried on along together, moving past other vehicles at tremendous speed. Taking the offensive first, the blue hedgehog threw his weight to the side, causing the two boards to clash against each other. The hawk nearly dropped the Chaos Emerald in his hand and strained to stop it from slipping between his fingers.

Sonic made another lunge, this one the green feathered one dodged by throwing his own weight forward propelling his gear faster and beyond harms reach. Sonic growled and tried to the same trick, flying forward trying to catch up.

The two of them exited the far end of the tunnel at the same time, just as Sonic was trying to force his way past. He could overtake him and then get in his way, force him to slow down then Sonic could tackle the guy.

A smile seemed to spread over the hawk's face.

"Not bad blue boy." He said giving Sonic a glare. Sonic heard him and turned, only to find that nothing was behind him; only an empty stretch of road all the way to the tunnel. As if his race opponent had just suddenly vanished.

"Hey what the…" Sonic began in stunned amazement but then glanced up as a shadow fell over him. Spiralling above, crossing in front of Chimera's full moon like an eclipse was a glowing neon blue shape. He briefly made out the shape of the hawk, before it arched out unfurling a pair of wings made from pure sea blue fire. The effect was only suggestive by it was enough to shock Sonic long enough for the shockwave to catch him off guard.

As if torn from the ground by a cyclone, the blue hedgehog was spiral twisting through the air; spiralling around and around before slamming into the ground. The hawk slid to a stop nearby and paused to admire his handy work. His comrades caught up with him a moment later and the larger one scooped his board back up in his arm before together they flew off leaving Sonic flying semi conscious on the ground.

"But the 'Fastest-thing-alive?'" The hawk asked sceptically giving the hastily vanishing blue dot on the horizon a glance. "I think not." Sonic heaved himself up, but it was already too late. They were gone.

By the time he had heaved himself back up to his feet, Knuckles and Amy had finally caught up. The police cars shot by after them, but their chase was already over; their targets were by now long since beyond their meagre reach.

"Sonic you ok?" Amy asked as the hedgehog stood with his back to her. Sonic was silent for a moment, then all of a sudden he started chuckling. A low and deep giggle that eventually evolved in a fully fledged laugh as his head rolled back.

Amy and Knuckles exchanged worried glances.

"You hit your head or something?" Knuckles asked as he looked the back of Sonic's head over for bruises. The hedgehog turned around to face them and on his face was a deliriously happy look, the single aspect of burning anticipation alight like a forest fire in his eyes.

"I'm fine." He stated with a wide grin that showed all his teeth. "I've never been better."

"I can't see why." Knuckles replied scratching the back of his head. "We lost the Emerald and you just knocked flat on your face."

"I just found the ultimate blues cure." Sonic retorted looking up towards the sky and the full moon above. He clenched a fist and his expression grew into a smirk. "New competition."


	17. Episode 9, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!

Episode 9: The tournament of the century.

* * *

-

"Just who the hell where they?" That was the question being passed around. That and; "How could you let them get away with an Emerald?" Most of these questions were directed at Sonic and eventually they began to play on his nerves.

"How the heck should I know who they were?" He demanded once his patience had been expired. "Whoever they were, they out-duelled me in the air."

"What do you expect?" Chuck asked with folded arms. "You'd never used one of those 'Extreme-Gear' things before while your opponent was clearly skilled in the sport." His poor performance on that board thing had Sonic in a sour mood and little seemed working to cheer him up.

"Remember Dark Oak?" Amy asked. "He said they'd be other parties interested in acquiring the Chaos Emeralds."

"I thought we weren't in the habit of listening to the advice of our enemies?" Sonic asked back with his feet up on the bridges communications console. It was only when Topaz needed the console that he was forced to put them down again.

Delivery of replacement upgrade parts had been received this morning. They included improved engine parts that would make the Typhoon go over five times as fast as it could now. The weapons systems included improved laser technology and missile targeting systems. Defence wise, their shields would be greeting a far greater buffer so it could absorb more strikes and their hull's armour plating was being reinforced. All this installation was going to take a while. A week at least, according to the technician who was overseeing the operation with Chuck at his side.

"Man it's so hot out there." Hare remarked wading his way onto the bridge. He had pulled his red bandana off his forehead and was using it waft himself. "Just what kind of temperatures do they get here?" Sweat matted the brown fur under his armpits to a darker colour.

"According this, the coldest recorded temperature during the day for Chimera is eighteen degrees Celsius." Lieutenant Milford stated, reading off the print out of information about planets in Com-Fed territory they had received. The Lieutenant and his men had taken to being the peace keepers on the ship. A lot of people, useful people, had decided to remain on the ship instead of going with the others to the relief centres the Federation had for them. Most of them were military personnel who knew the risks of staying on a ship more than likely to get shot at. A small percentage however were those who found they couldn't distance themselves from their saviours.

"You've got to be kidding." Hare remarked looking a little distraught. "Even at the poles?"

"The entire planet's basically one big tropical rainforest with a few Com-Fed settlements here and there." The Lieutenant replied glancing back. "It only drops to anything we might consider normal temperature during the nights." Hare groaned and fell back into a chair.

It was unarguably hot on this planet. It was unlike any kind of summer any of them had experienced before. The new arrivals had taken to carrying around water skins around with them since it became clear it was near dangerous not to do so. Any clothing that could keep a person warm was being ditched. Bark had abandoned his woolly hat and scarf and was sweating so much he seemed to be loosing the insolating body fat.

Any bagging clothing seemed like a god send to whoever needed it.

"Well, what do you think?" Rouge declared walking onto the bridge to show off her new clothes. Knuckles glanced back from his seat and nearly fell off it in surprise. She had replaced her skin tight clothes with far more appropriate for the heat, baggy and sportier. Her long elbow length gloves were still here, but her pants were loose and fell around a pair of sneakers rather than knee high boots. The printed images of a white flower against the black fabric on each heal. A sports top fitted her perfectly but revealed more of her than Knuckles had been prepared for at that moment. "There's the reaction I was looking for." Apparently satisfied by the effect she had had on the echidna, she tested on the flexibility of her outfit to see if it wouldn't get in the way of her flying or her near legendary kicks.

"It's nice Rouge." Amy replied with a nervous smile. The pink hedgehog had taken a similar change in fashion, with baggy pink pants and a loosely fitting overall dress that showed off her cleavage in such a way that Sonic could not help but come to the conclusion that it had been for his benefit.

"Just where did you get those clothes?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"The cutest little shop in downtown Metal City." Rouge replied. "I found it last night in the Plaza."

"I knew it." Sonic muttered glancing away. "You all went shopping last night leaving us to look for the Emerald."

"You didn't say we couldn't." Rouge stated wryly. "We even brought that trouble making weasel along with us."

"Fang?" The blue hedgehog asked looking back. "He's still hanging around? He didn't go with the others?"

"He wants to get back to Earth." Milford replied without looking around. "Don't worry I've got him on the short leash. He tries anything and we just leave him on some moon somewhere." Sonic muttered something under his breath.

"Can we please get back to what we're supposed to do about this Chaos Emerald theft?" Knuckles asked, coughing once to gain their attention. "We can't just leave in…whoever took it... hands."

"Until we find just who they are, we're kinda stuck here." Sonic remarked leaning back. "Relax Knucklehead; we've still got one Chaos Emerald."

"Just how can you be relaxed at a time like this?" The Echidna asked with raised eyebrows.

"Getting wound up gets you nowhere." Sonic replied leaning back and folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes as if he intended to take a nap. "You should know that by now." He added with a yawn. Knuckles opened his mouth to argue further and then gave up before he even started and collapsed onto the console. It was too hot to argue right now.

"Can't we turn on the air conditioning?" Hare asked all of a sudden.

"Sorry, we disconnected the systems for the installations." Milford replied, his eyes darting across his readout. "We won't have power for another three days." Hare groaned and purposely smacked his head against the console.

"Anyone got any plans for today?" Rouge asked looking around. "I said I'd take Cream to see the opening event of that sports racing thing they're holding out at the Stadium. Anyone else wanna come?" Milford just waved her off to indicate he was too busy.

"Pass." Sonic replied who by now was too comfortable to move.

"Me too." Amy added, seeing this as a perfect opportunity to be alone with the blue hedgehog. Rouge looked directly at the Echidna.

"Nice try." He replied with a flat expression. Looking disappointed the bat glanced over towards Hare.

"This ship's stuffier than the inside of an oven." The rabbit sighed, wiping some sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. "Besides I'm not one to turn down a free ticket to a free sporting event."

"Take Bean and Bark with you." Milford called up. "I don't like them moping about with nothing to do all day."

"Since when were you put in charge of what people do?" Hare asked back. The Lieutenant just shrugged without looking.

"Someone has to be." He put in a momentary glance towards Sonic, who looked as if he were asleep. "And something tells me your leader here isn't going to be very helpful in the organisational department." The hedgehog pretended to snore for effect.

"Ok, I'll make it a day trip for anyone else who wants to go." Rouge stated putting her hands on her hips. "Last chance Sonic, sure you don't wanna come? I thought racing was your thing?"

"Maybe later." The hedgehog replied opening his left eye a little. "I was up late last night and I'm still wasted."

"And I'm still busy down in the energy core." Knuckles added quickly scratching the back of his head. Rouge was getting annoyed that the Echidna was deliberately making excuses to get out of her company.

"Fine." She said pouting a little. "Come on Hare, let's go."

* * *

-

It was early morning when Chaotix made their move. Scaling the walls of the compound was not much of a challenge, but all the ships were being constantly monitored by a scanning security system. Espio went in first, sliding through the shadow with the expert skill of a trained ninja.

Sailing in undetected, he opened the security gate which had been put up during the night. Vector advanced in side, silently signalling with his left hand for the others to advance as well. They had all dressed themselves in black and with the early morning light to guide them, they darted across towards the back of the centre.

This was a meticulously planned operation, every detail examined, dissected and placed with expert precision into the overall body of a plan so precise it left no room for error.

"INTRUDER ALERT!" The words yelled out in rapid succession into the air as Charmy fell right through a sensor alarm.

"YOU IDIOT!" Vector declared as loud alarms began ringing out.

"Oh for the love of…" Espio sighed as another plan went down the toilet. Alarms began to blare from outside the compound as Com-Fed police were on their way to the scene of the respected break in.

"What do we do now Vector?" Rei asked.

"What do you think!" The crocodile replied breaking into the fastest sprint he could manage with his short legs towards the ships at the back of the centre. "Its outer space or bust!" Cursing his luck to be landed with such a bunch of clutter brained, clumsy comrades Espio followed close after, throwing stars darting from between his fingers to strike the security system control boxes as he went, silencing the alarm in various places.

Beck and Rei pulled the gates shut after them, ensuring them at least a small amount of time once the authorities arrived.

"Hey Vector where you going?" Charmy asked seeing that the Crocodile had soured on past the Admiralty ship they had been trying to buy the last time they had been here. Instead he carried on towards the cone shaped, blood red ship at the far end.

"Forget that old tanker." Vector called back. "We're taking the deluxe model!"

"Just when you think he can't be any more impulsive." Espio muttered running past the startled looking bee as the leading reptile made his way up the flight of stairs leading to the ships entrance hatch.

Several of Chimera's odd shaped police cars had pulled up outside the gates and officers armed with nasty looking rifles of a kind got out. Clearly they were aware at the situation before they even arrived. Space ship theft, if only attempted, was a serious crime.

"I think its time to go." Rei muttered.

"You don't need to a mind reader to work that one out." Beck replied as the two of them made for the ship. Vector had already located the cockpit and was frantically working over the controls. He had had some experience with space ships from the brief and chaotic trip in one he had borrowed from the G.U.N fleet.

"Ok… I think I found the ignition." Vector declared, pressing a large blue button and smiling in smug satisfaction as the engine thrusters at the back of the ship roared in correspondence. "And we've got a full tank. Let's get out of here." Espio instantly clamped himself down in the co-pilots seat and did up his seat belt; his hands gripping the arm rests with every ounce of strength in them.

The cops blasted the gates open and a dozen of them ran towards the ship to try and stop it from taking off. Rei and Beck were the last ones inside; bolting shut the door after them. The near next instant the burners on the underside of the ship arched into activation and with a sudden lurch that threw anyone not sitting down off their feet, the ship itself rose into the air.

"Attention, this is space ship control." A partly distorted voice began over the console. "You are currently attempting to take a vessel registered as belong to a Captain Zelokia. If you do not land immediately, Com-Fed security ships will be dispatched to detain you. Further resistance will result in hostile action." Vector simply switched off the communications device and ignored the speaker as the ship rose further and further into the sky. The police were shooting at it from the ground by their shots weren't very accurate at such range.

"Right we're high enough for the thrusters." The Crocodile stated as if thinking to himself as he flipped a switch. A beverage holder jutted out from the console. Espio shot Vector a sour look. "Sorry." Flipping the right switch the thrusters at the back of the ship shuttered for a moment before each of them kicked in and the ships rocketed forward; ascending towards the upper reaches of Chimera's atmosphere.

"We have company." Beck reported as he and Rei had to climb into their seats because of the sudden change in gravity. Vector and Espio followed his gaze. Rising with them along either side were two of the large tanker type ships they had seen as the depot.

"I'm going to try and outdistance them." The Crocodile declared throwing his large hands over the controls. The ship surged onwards with a new surge of raw speed, desperate to be the first to reach the top of the world.

"We're burning up our fuel too quickly." Espio said looking at the read outs. "We won't have enough left once we get to space to get anywhere."

"We can refuel at one of those space stations." Vector replied, remembering they had seen other ships leading the orbiting platforms once they had used up so much fuel leaving a planet's gravity well.

"We'll be arrested as soon as we do!" The Crocodile paused as if forgetting that tiny flaw in his plan.

"Ah." Was all he could manage. The two ships following them were pouring on speed as well, but luckily neither of them could move as fast as the one Chaotix had hijacked. The sky around them was peeling to peel away bit by bit, revealing more and more black and stars. "Wait a second… I think…" Vector began glancing over the controls. "Oh thank you god!" He declared out.

"Those ships are right behind us." Rei called up. The tankers were clearing the atmosphere just after them.

"This ship has a jump drive Espio." Vector said as if he hadn't heard the flying squirrels words at all. "I think I can get it working." His fingers were even now running over the controls, denying the fact that he had no idea what he was doing.

The ships were now alongside the stolen vessel and one of them looked as if it was about to fire at it. "Ok I got it!" Vector declaring smacking his fists down on the button and the equipment around them surging to life.

"You and your dumb luck." The words managed to reach Vector's ears before the ship phased out as the jump took place, the shockwave passing back and knocking the two tanker ships backwards to the point where they almost fell back into the pull of the planet's gravity.

* * *

-

Amy was slightly disappointed that Sonic had lied about not wanting to go out, as she had been looking forward to a possible alone time period with him. Instead he ended up leaving shortly after the others to wander around the city. As Knuckles hadn't much to do either, despite what he told Rouge, he went along too. Amy tagged along since being with her Sonic on an outing was better than nothing.

"Those guys from last night." The blue hedgehog muttered as the three of them made their way down the street. The languages used around them were so strange in sounding it almost sounded alien it was hard to tell if they were actually using words or just roaring. Amy began to wish they'd been given some of those translators Com-Fed personnel had on them at all times. "Someone that skilled is going to have a rep."

"Why's it so important we find them again anyway?" Knuckles asked glancing off through the crowds at some of the road side stalls as they entered the plaza were the market was flourishing with activity. Crowds were beginning to gather in front of a towering public address screen at the far side.

"Apart from the fact they have a Chaos Emerald…" Sonic began glancing up. The screen was showing someone talking with images of a race track and a stadium in the background. Clearly it was reporting the progress on the start of that sports event they had heard so much about. "…I don't like them showing me up."

"Pride comes before a fall Sonic."

"You're a fine one to talk about pride."

"Stop bickering you two boys." Amy scolded them with a coy smile.

"It's an exciting atmosphere at the Stadium here to day." The speaker on the screen was telling the crowd. "Our contests are still arriving and what an assortment of talent they are.

I'd like to turn over to the Confederation representative, recently appointed regent and elite of the empire." Sonic turned away and made a move to leave. "Would you like to say a few words Doctor?" Freezing in his tracks the blue hedgehog stood there with a gapping more before he whirled around to see the sneering face placed high above the crowds on the huge screen.

"Eggman!" People around them looked confused at the hedgehog's outburst, while the others upfront simply stared up at the round face with its large chestnut brown moustache, darkened nose and thick spectacles that concealed the eyes completely.

"Welcome one and all to the opening events of the Ex Galactic Grand Prix." The Doctor declared. "It is an honour for me to officially represent the Confederate empire here today and to act as overseer for the Galactic tournament. The competition to decide who's the best of the best and will go home with the galactic trophy and the title; 'Fastest Thing Alive'." Sonic just stood with his mouth hung open.

"So let's get started with the introduction to the course our contestants will be expected to navigate shall we?" The Doctor clicked his fingers and the image of a race track appeared behind him. It was a map of Metal City with a thick white curved line traced through it. "A fast track through downtown Metal City has been organized; a fifteen mile stretch that circumnavigates the city, through the rainforest outside its walls before arriving back at the Sports Arena."

"A demonstration, I believe, has been organized to show the viewers what just what kind of action they can expect later on?" The report asked. Eggman simply nodded.

"Yes that's right. One of the groups already registered as contestants have agreed to run the course today to show off their skills in an expedition trial race." The Doctor held a hand up to his ears listening to the ear piece. "Which I believe is just about to start so if can cut to the starting line we can observe." The screen buzzed with static for a single instant before the image of a stadium appeared. Cameras were all pointing towards the three at the starting line, their Extreme Gears already held under their arms. One of them was flexing his arms, another was leaning against the side of the starting line posts looking bored while the third was standing there very still glaring off into the distance.

All three of them were Falcons. The further to the left was large and bulky with grey feathers across his back and white down his front. His ears were concealed behind a pair of small goggles that sat on the top ridge of his short beak. On his hands were a pair of thick canvas brown gloves had he was flexing now and then as he stretched his muscles.

The one directly in the middle was much smaller, with soft purple feathers and a white bandana tied around her head. Much of her baggy clothing was white and her eyes were shading from the intense sun by orange tinted sunglasses.

The third one was about the same height as the girl, with green feathers that spiked back over his head almost like Sonic's own quills. His wings had a mixture of light green and dark green feathers, with gloves almost identical to the hedgehogs on his hands. A crest of white feathers stood out from his chest crossing over his shoulders. He had goggles, but they were pushed onto his forehead. The camera panned around and Sonic got a real good look at him.

"I don't believe it…" The blue hedgehog breathed. Those eyes, those dark blue eyes outlined by red rings. He had seen them before and he knew exactly where.

"The Babylon Rogues, galaxy class racers have competed in various other tournaments in most territories within this spiral arm and have a large fan base." The Doctor continued.

"Oh my god it's Jet!" A girl nearby yelled up and instantly the crowd seemed to break into chanting. "Oh look at him isn't he cute?" Fan girls seemed to have completely surrounded them and Knuckles looked a little alarmed.

"Alright, we get to see Wave do her air dance." Someone called out.

"Wave? Forget her! I'm here to see Storm rip the competition to pieces."

"Racers, ready!" The crowds inside the stadium watched as the countdown for the exhibition race to begin started. Having gotten good seats Hare and Cream were sat down at the front. Bean and Rouge were sat further back. Bean had noticed some snacks were on sale and went to get them all some. He returned with a tray of substances that none of them recognised. Not that, being on another planet, they expected the snacks to be hot dogs and nacho dips.

"I'm almost afraid to ask." Hare began lifting the lid of one of the cubs and staring inside at the mint green liquid sloshing around inside.

"You shouldn't be afraid to try new things. Meow." The girl in the next seat stated. They all glanced up. She looked human, but had feline traits just as furry pointed ears on the top of her head and a long tail swinging out the edge of her seat. Her eyes were very light green and her skin strangely pale, her hair was the same colour as the fur on her ears and tail; a dark brown and hung down either side of her face and out behind her in a pony tail.

She had a tray similar to they're in front of her, with as many of the strange looking snacks as they had. She was slurping down the contents from the cup without hesitation, large bite marks in the thing that looked like a sandwich but was royal blue.

"Ok I'll take your word for it." Hare replied, before tagging sip. He paused as it ran down his throat. "Hey it's fantastic!" He almost yelled looking back at the others with a rim moustache on his fur. The others looked down at their own odd snacks, before they bit into them. The flavours were different from what they were used to but they weren't as bad as they first imagined.

"See, what I tell you?" The cat-girl asked with a wiry smile. "You're lucky to get seats this far down front. Meow… You're going to have a great view of the action from here."

"Reminds me of the Emerald Grand Prix back on Earth." Bean muttered folding his wings in front of himself. The cat-girls ears pricked up and she nearly leapt on him.

"Earth? You guys are from Earth?" She asked so quickly Bean didn't hear the sentence at first. "Not the Earth we saw in the broadcasts that the Destroyer was defeated on?"

"Yeah that's the one." Hare remarked. "Despite that we had to fend for ourselves when the Confederates rammed a fleet down our throats." The cat girl leaned further over the edge of her seat looking around at the four of them.

"Then… do you know Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"Know him?" Rouge asked incredulously with a raised eyebrow.

"We're some of Mr. Sonic's best friends." Cream replied with a smile. The cat girl just sat there with an awed expression, her mouth hung open. "He's here with us on this planet right now."

"MEOW! Oh my god…" She began stammering over and over again almost like a school girl meeting her favourite pop figure.

"On your marks!" A voice called out over the speaker and the three racers tensed themselves, their positions held almost exactly the same so the board was cupped under their right arm while the left hand touched the ground. "Get set!" The cameras were all on the three of them now and the large screens in and around the stadium showed the starting line from various different angles.

"I know I've seen them before somewhere." Knuckles began staring up at the screen narrowing his eyes.

"Of course you have!" Sonic stated with a thick grin. "They're the three we saw steal the Chaos Emerald last night!"

"And GO!" In unison all three falcons threw their Gears forward with a single sweep of their arms and leapt on them while they were still in mid air. A flash of blue light emanated from the back of each one before they each rocketed forwards down the course.

The green hawk, Jet, shot off so fast anyone who blinked would have missed it, followed closely by the female Wave in second and the large Storm in third.

"Damn it that was fast!" Rouge breathed watching the three blinking lights, which was all she could make out, soar down the course at tremendous speeds.

The remote cameras tried their best to keep up but all three of them were just darn fast. Storm, labelled by the screen as 'The Albatross', seemed to be the slowest; his large bulk weighing him down. But where his overall speed failed him his ability to handle tight corners more than made up for it. He could do ninety degree turns along the long course as if it were nothing at all.

The crowds cheered at the sight of his impressive skill in navigating tight corners at tremendous velocity.

The girl was labelled as Wave the Swallow and out of the three of them, she seemed to be doing the most to give the audience their money's worth. Whenever her board reached a sufficient height above the ground, she did acrobatic tricks that made Sonic wonder how she could do that without breaking her hip bones. Watching her, it was if she was dancing in mid air; twirling with the grace of a ballet.

Out of all of them, Jet the Hawk was the fastest. He didn't waste time on tricks. His method was to go straight from A to B as fast as possible. Most eyes had trouble keeping up with him, but Sonic's had had practise tracking fast objects and the blue hedgehog watched as the hawk shot along the course like a speeding comet.

There was no doubt in the hedgehog's mind that these three where the thief's who had beaten them to the Chaos Emerald at the museum. Despite this however, Sonic could not help but be impressed by the speed and agility of all three of them. While in his eyes they were cheating by using technology to go that fast, the ability to handle those kinds of speeds was enough to warrant congratulations.

The race ended after one lap with Jet coming in first place, Wave in Second and Storm in third. The hawk did a twirl in the air before landing with ease on the finish line, catching his Gear in one arm as it fell back.

"I look forward to facing the competition during the tournament." He declared as a microphone was brought to him for a comment. "But let all challengers be advised, the title 'Fastest-Thing-Alive' will belong to me!" Sonic glanced around as girls from various species around him began chanting Jet's name making no secret of their fandom. Eggman's face appeared back on screen.

"Potential contests are still being accepted so there's still time to sign up if you believe you're up to the challenge." Sonic grimaced, feeling as if that had been directed at him alone. "Come one, come all and be in with a chance of racing against galactic champions and earn the title; Fastest-Thing-Alive." The crowds all began cheering and Sonic was left alone with his thoughts for a moment.

"Eggman, and those guys from last night?" Knuckles asked. "This can't just be a coincidence."

"Got that damn right." Sonic replied without turning to look at him, his eyes kept squarely on the screen and Jet as the hawk accepted praise from the masses shamelessly. "Maybe Dark Oak tipped the Doctor off like he did us?

Doesn't really matter to me either way.

We're being challenged in more ways than one." An unexpected smirk spread over Sonic's face. "Oh I'm going to enjoy this."

"You guys really know Sonic the Hedgehog?" The cat-girl was persistent in asking as if she could not believe her luck.

"Trust Sonic to have fans even on other planets." Bean muttered dryly. His gaze was on the Hawk, Jet who was still at the finish line, giving out autographs to enthusiastic fans who had climbed over the stands to get to him. Wave and Storm were surrounded by similar crowds of enthusiasts. It was clear that, at least around here, they were celebrities.

"Would you like to meet him?" Cream asked looking up at her.

"Oh MEOW! pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!" She began with her head hung low as if she was begging. She looked up again trying a puppy dog eyes expression, which was not entirely effective with cat ears and a tail. Cream looked up towards Rouge, who was acting as the authority in the group as neither Bean nor Hare were mature enough, or had much interest in the parentally role.

"She's your guest." The bat replied leaning back in her seat. Cream smiled widely before turning back.

"Ok then." The cat-girl flung her arms around the small bunny girl and hugged her close. Emerl looked briefly and then turned his attention over towards the race track. The Babylon Rogues were leaving the course, much to the disappointment of their fans and moving towards the far side of the stadium.

"That should keep the crowds happy." Wave muttered with a faint smile, flipping her glasses off her eyes and up onto her forehead.

"For now anyway." Storm commented back. The Albatross was rubbing the side of his face with a far off look in his eyes.

"Are you still pouting about that?" Wave asked with a raised eyebrow. "Forget about that little love tap Storm, it's not important."

"I don't like being sucker punched." He replied in an emotionless but at the same time, hostile voice. "The next time I see that red guy, he's mine."

"Testosterone drunk idiot." Wave muttered contemptuously, brushing one of the tie backs from her bandana back over her shoulder.

"Oh stop bickering both of you." Jet replied as he stepped into the shade were he could enjoy the relative comfort of the darkness where the heat was diminished slightly. "Storm has a good point Wave; we can't forget those guys who tried to stop us last night.

They're likely going to be an obstacle to our operations." He reached around for a bottle of water at his side, undid the top and downed half the contents in one go. "Although, I gotta say when the Doc told us to expect trouble I never expected the 'legendary' Sonic the Hedgehog." He added.

"Not feeling threatened as you?" Wave asked coyly. "After all the hedgehog is unofficially known as the Fastest-Thing-Alive. The very title you crave so much."

"Threatened?" Jet asked raising an eyebrow questioningly. "By a land based mammal? I think not." He managed a smile. "Sonic's reputation isn't deserved I can tell you that for nothing. He's not going to outdistance me in any sort of descent competition."

"Underestimating Sonic is the worst mistake any person can make." A voice stated. All three of them looked up to see the overseer of the tournament talking towards them. "I've had many, many encounters with that pest and believe me you had best not let your guard down." Eggman persisted in his comment. "If he's here then so are his little friends."

"We can handle them egg salad." Storm replied.

"That's 'Egg-MAN', and I you would do well to keep an eye on them." The ends of the Doctor's moustache almost curled in annoyance.

"Do we try and recruit them?" Wave asked. Eggman chuckled once and folded his arms in front of himself.

"No. They won't even consider it. We'll do better trying to beat them to the Chaos Emeralds." Jet took another long drink from his bottle and then wiped his beak with the back of his hand.

"Then you've received more clues as to the location of the other six?" Eggman shook his head in response.

"Unfortunately no. All the message said was that we can expect to find them on the planets used in the Tournament. We're still going to have to go ahead with our plan to hide the search within the Grand Prix." Jet forged a deep frown. "Don't worry my feathered friend. You'll have that key of yours energised before the end of this competition. But remember they're mine after that."

"What if Sonic interferes?"

"I'm betting he will in some form." The Doctor replied with a smirk. "In fact I'm certain of it." The Hawk's expression begged for a further explanation. "Sonic has pride and feels challenged whenever his status is in jeopardy. You yourself just claimed to the masses you wish to take the title 'fastest-thing-alive'. That's been Sonic's unspoken nickname ever since he and I first met." Eggman glanced out towards the track and the Stadium itself. "He won't be willing to let it go without a fight."


	18. Episode 9, part 2

It quickly became clear that their stay on the planet Mars was going to be an extended one. The Black Arms sect of the Fesonian race had taken up temporary refuge on the fourth planet in this solar system when they had taken sufficient damages during the conflict on Earth over two years ago. During that time they had explored most of the planet and drawn up detailed maps of the various continents, islands, rivers and oceans.

According to various pieces of information given to them by the past authorities on Earth, the planet Mars had once been owned by something called the 'Machine Federation'. This organisation of intelligent robots had used this world for their various experiments meant to improve their technological basis.

These experiments ventured into terraformation 'the process which had made the planet inhabitable in the first place', various forms of genetics manipulation and research into the nature of chaos energy. These Black Arms intelligence operatives found evidence of in various abandoned facilities dotted across the planet's surface.

As a result of this experimentation, the thick rainforests in the south and frozen wastes in the north were populated by a collection of strange animals. Most local flora and fauna was imported from Earth but there were exception.

According to data, those that inhabited the south were a group of reptilian and avian life forms collectively referred to by the humans as 'Dinosaurs'.

Most of them were wandering herds of giant herbivores that stripped the leaves from even the tallest trees. A small number however were predators that were skilled at killing and stealth and had even taken down one or two careless Black Arm scouts. The most vicious of these and the one they decided to avoid at all costs was a giant meat eating creature over twenty feet tall with a mouth full of arm length teeth capable of biting a Black Arm in half.

In the north, wandering behemoths lined with brown shaggy fur advanced over the tundra in herds. Mammoths they were called; at least according to the human's data. Various other life forms that existed in too large quantities to list were strewn across the surface in appropriate settings.

The genetics experiments conducted, concluded their top scientist, were done using the technology left behind by the survivors of the crashed battle station on the Earth. The Machine Federation had obviously acquired the relics from the site and used them to test their own science by riving various extinct species; simply to see if they could.

At the moment however, The Black Arms themselves had more important things to worry about than the misuse of their old technology. Instead of trying to fight a battle they were fully aware they could not win, they retreated into the jungles of Mars to vanish as the Confederation ships began to appear one by one in the sky.

"Lines of communication with the Earth have been severed as expected." A meeting was held just after the ships began to appear on their radar screens. Their leader, Commander Rikoye was well aware that if their hiding place was discovered then they would be exterminated. As such they had retreated to an area where the Confederates would never think of looking for them.

Through the mountain ridge that divided the top of the western continent from the bottom was a set of dormant volcanoes. Tunnelling down into them, the Black Arms had created a stronghold above a river of molten magma that passed close enough to the surface to be noticed at all. Being naturally amphibious beings, Fesonians found prolonged exposure to heat capable of drying them out distressing and even potentially dangerous.

As such a good deal of measures had been taken to cool the chambers they used down to a bearable temperature and an underground lake had been discovered, recently formed from the terraformation and abundant water. It wasn't the Luke-warm they wanted as the magma underneath heated it up considerably, but it provided all the moisture they bodies needed.

The Confederates would never think of looking for them in such a place, so unsuited for their needs.

"So we can't find out what happening on humans third world then?" The commander asked. His advisor shook his head.

"I'm afraid that our only hope for survival is to continue hiding."

"Until they give up the search." Someone else commented dryly.

"They'll never give up the search." Another replied with an angry tone. "They want us all dead."

"The Doom's Eye wants us dead." Rikoye corrected them. "The Confederates are just following orders."

"Regardless of why, we still must continue hiding if we expect to go on living."

"But we can't simply hide forever sir." Jailos, their top genetics scientist and biologist who as of late had been given the duty of documenting all of the strange species found on Mars. "What kind of story will we tell our fledglings? That we cowered in some caves while others fought and died?"

"Don't patronize me." Rikoye replied. "But you're right, we can't remain concealed below ground and I don't intend for us to." All of the council turned to look at him. "We met with the Destroyer and faced our fears before. We will do so again." He stood up to his full weight and lashed his long tail out behind him. "No more running. No more hiding." They all nodded slowly.

Each and every one of them had had enough of cowering, running none stop; all their efforts put into evasion.

They were tired of running. Now they wanted to fight.

As such Jailos' next orders were to conduct a scout mission across the immediate area and see if the Confederates were sending down ground troops to look for them. Black Arm scanners showed that the ships hadn't landed, but any more detailed information received beyond that would alert them to their presence.

"As if that matters." Jailos found herself thinking. "They know we're here."

Leading her team away from the entrance of the concealed tunnel, the team made its way out into the jungle that ended abruptly on the edge of the mountain range. These twists forests were dangerous for several reasons. Many species, alive and resurrected due to the experiments had been released here and while they all managed to work together in a thriving ego system it left the shadows full of dangerous and often hungry animals.

Luckily the constantly hovering of Confederate ships had scared most of the more dangerous ones away. There was one species however that refused to back down and continued to hunt despite the intrusions.

As she expected, they came across its large foot printed pressed deep into the ground. From the looks of it the trail was fresh and belonged to that of a territorially bound male.

"Tyrannosaur?" One of her subordinates asked and the other five began looking around as expecting it to be watching them. Jailos just nodded with a grim look on her face.

"We keep moving, stay in the shadows." She told them and carried on, her hind legs carrying her faster when she kept her trail straight as a counter balance. Through the canopy above they caught glimpses of the sky. The familiar hum that accompanied any ship inside an atmosphere was not present so it was clear no vessels were in the area.

Reaching the edge of a cliff and keeping to the edge, Jailos gestured for them all to get down and keep quiet. Crouching low to the ground, they concealed themselves above the long leaves of bushes and ferns.

There was movement up ahead. Patiently they crouched there, watching through the gaps in the foliage. Eventually a large creature emerged from behind one of the trees, darting low like them as it ran on its arched hind legs. The brief flash of green scales vanishing after it as it slid between two bushes and disappeared from sight.

Jailos gestured for them to carry on.

Scouting the area took longer than expected. Frequently they found trails left by the large predator, such as foot prints and at once time a very large dung pile and had to change course to avoid running into the creature. Once a sweep of the land in a five mile radius had been compelled, Jailos summed up that their ships must have given up looking for them in this region.

"Sir." One of her group began. She looked back at him. "I think we're being followed." The fesonian glanced back nervously over his shoulder. "Or hunted." Slowly she moved back to his side.

"Where?" She asked and without a word he gestured off towards the tail through the trees at the far side of the clearing they were passing through. Bushes were moving there and it was clear something was there moving them just enough to be noticed. Whatever it, it seemed smaller than the big predator or even the pack hunting ones further to the south.

"Do we try to out run it?" Another asked. Suddenly the bushes broke apart and a white shape came hurtling at them. Jailos stepped aside and as it came past she used her thick tail to trip it up. It crashed to the ground with a tremendously loud thud and the others pinned its arms behind its back before it had a chance to get back up.

Another creature came from the bushes after it and Jailos about faced ready to fight, but she faltered when she discovered that her would-be opponent was a human being.

"Release him!" The middle aged human with spectacles and medium length blonde hair demanded with a pistol in his grasp. Jailos glanced back at the creature they had pinned to the ground.

It was a large feline like humanoid with mostly white fur with various black patches over its body. It was clad in leather and plate armour and it was trying to take back possession of the large battle axe it had dropped when it fell.

"You are human and Mobian." Jailos stated in her self taught English, which startled the human considerably. "We are Black Arm. We will not harm you." She flicked her fingers at the others, who nodded and backed off the feline quickly. It rose up sharply, snarling in anger. Now that she could see its face Jailos observed that it had one yellow eye and one blue eye.

"Sorry, our mistake." The human began. "We thought you were Confederation soldiers."

"They could still well be." The feline said brushing his fur off. "Tricks of Loki. They could be lying to us." Suddenly Jailos remembered where she had said this cat before.

"Jack?" She asked. The cat looked down at her surprised to hear her utter his name. "I remember you. I saw you and the other felines in that dragon infested world of Fellena." The expression that passed over his face was one of complete and utter shock.

"You are the miracle alchemist that rid my people of the Dragon Blood!" Jack cursed him for nor recognising her sooner.

All Fesonians, while having slight differences within their own species, all looked the same to different races. "Please, I beg of you forgive my rash actions." He added dropping to his knees. Jailos looked a little taken aback.

"My name is Stuart." The human said introducing him. "And you've already met Jack. We're members of the resistance movement on the Earth; _The_ _hammer of Thor_."

"Resistance?" Jailos repeated. "So I take it the battle did not go well?" Stuart sighed and shook his head.

"That's one way of putting it. The entire planet's now under their occupation. We're trying to undermine their operations." He glanced around at the small group of seven. "Although it seems you didn't do much better either."

"We destroyed a few of their ships in orbit." The Black Arm said with her species equivalent of a grim smile. "But we were overwhelmed by their numbers and were forced to retreat."

"Same with us." Stuart replied putting his hands in his pockets. "We're here to ask if you guys might be interested in an alliance with us."

"I'm surprised you managed to get to Mars to ask us in the first place."

"We had a few ships left. We had to take the long away around to get here." The human explained. "Our commander really would like to know if you'd consent to work with us. Our own man power alone won't be enough to oppose them on a large enough scale, but perhaps if we work together..."

"I will put the proposal before our own commander once I return to headquarters." She replied nearly cutting him off.

Stuart nodded with a satisfied smile.

"Ok then. We'll wait in orbit for your answer. We can only wait for about five hours or we'll run the risk of being detected by the Confederates fleet."

"Understood." As soon as Jailos finished speaker, the ground shook as something very heavy slammed down onto it. A shadow fell over them as a gigantic shape emerged out from between the trees. The beast was an impossibly tall lizard like creature with teeth that could span the distance of forearm. Its head was overly large and the extra weight was balanced by long muscular tail. The arms were tiny in comparison; not that with that colossal mouth it would need them. Most of its skin was brown and dark gold scales, but it had a show of short dark green fur or feathers running along the top.

As soon as it saw them it opened its mouth out wide and hissed; thick threads of saliva dripping from its lips to the forest floor.

"Holy shit is that a T-Rex?" Stuart proclaimed backing up. Quickly the creature advanced trying to close its mouth around one of the Black Arms; all of which darted along the ground as vanished into the undergrowth showing that they were too quick for the larger creature.

Seizing the opportunity, Jack tore a knife from his belt and jabbed it at the colossal reptiles face. It roared and staggered backwards nearly ramming into a tree.

"We leave, now!" The feline stated, grabbing Stuart and flinging him over his shoulder as he bid a hasty retreat. The Rex, now angered by the jab, gave chase; but howled long in frustration when it realized it had lost its prey.

* * *

-

Despite warm surroundings and friendly faces, the nightmare memory refused to leave her mind. It was imprinted, etched into her soul forever. Her parents, her loving mother and father who had done their best to raise her despite the fact she had been born without the use of her legs, were shot through the back as they tried to defend another from the brutality of the slave round ups.

Helen was scared. Very scared. Her world had been turned upside down and everything she held dear was gone. Well, perhaps not everything. Her friends were still around her and that was something she could cling to, as it was the only thing she had left.

Without a wheelchair or any other mode of transportation for her, Helen had been stuck inside Chris' room on the sofa in front of the now useless wide screen TV. One of them, Francis, Danny or Chris was always with her. Most of the time she was asleep; or simply pretending to be.

She did not wish to talk. She hadn't the emotional resources for it, not trusting what her first words would be after seeing what she seen. With the curtains pulled aside the hot sunlight of Chimera filtered inside, far more warming than that of the Earth's.

Danny sat in the corner reading one of the medical books that the Com-Fed Doctor had left behind with them. It was written in another, alien, language and understanding the words was difficulty but consulting over reading material for reference he was in the process of translating it.

Francis and Chris were still out somewhere and the boy's absence played on her dramatically. Out of all of them, Chris was the one she felt most attached to. He had been her closest friend and finding him amongst her rescuers had been a blessing.

"Eggman, out of all the people on this planet and in the galaxy itself it had to be EGGMAN!" Someone shouted loudly from beyond the door leading to the corridor outside.

Chris and Francis let an angry Chuck pass them in the corridor followed quickly by an amused looking Sonic, Amy and Knuckles. Chris' grandfather was waving a piece of paper around in the air as he walked off and vanished around a corner.

"What's that about?" Francis asked raising an eyebrow. Chris just shrugged his shoulders and decided it was best not to get involved.

The two of them carried on to the hanger bay, where the ramp was descended out to the ground outside. Omega was down there by the exit having his missiles and various other forms of projectile weapons reloaded and then checked over by Sam. E123 had used up quite a bit of his overall fire power during the confrontation with the Confederation's battleship, the Ymir. Sam Speed lowered the last of the ammunition into the hidden compartment on the left arm and it slid back into place with a loud clicking.

"How it going Uncle Sam?" Chris asked. Sam simply grumbled something about being reduced to a mechanic and walked off, leaving Omega to test the flexibility of his arm.

They walked past them and out into the sunlight. Neither of them had been prepared for the intense blast and for a moment they had to hold up their hands to shield their eyes.

"It takes a little getting used to." A voice stated. Chris lifted his arm a little to see the slim figure of Rouge standing nearby. She smiled, her eyes widen behind a pair of sunglasses. She handed them each a pair and with them on the near blinding light was much more bearable.

"Man and I thought it was bright yesterday." Chris muttered. The sun above was far too bright to see exactly where it was in the sky but the flare above suggested it was near enough noon.

"Who's your friend?" Francis asked, glancing past Rouge to see a new addition to the group returned from the tournament exhibition race. She was considerably taller than the rest of them and looked human, accept for various piece's of feline anatomy such as a tail and ears partly concealed by a pink poncho.

"This is Sera." Cream replied, hanging on by the girls hand as if she'd made a new friend. The girl was standing and staring up towards the ship they were standing before, her face an unmasked display of awe.

"The Blue Typhoon." She muttered as if it were part of some ancient legend. "I never thought I'd see it this close. Meow…"

"She's another member of Sonics devoted fan club." Hare muttered scratching the back of his head absently.

"Is he in?" Bean asked.

"Yeah, we just passed him on the way down." Francis replied. "And the others looked like they were having another meeting on the bridge."

"Ok then." Cream replied, tugging the near comatose Sera off towards the ramp that lead up into the ship. Emerl quickly followed after them.

"Cream makes friends quickly doesn't she?" Bark asked scratching the back of his head.

"Good." Rouge replied with a faint smile. "At least if she's doing that she won't worry about being so far away from her mother."

Just as they set their first steps onto the ramp, a red blur shot overhead and all they got was the briefest shot of a pair of wings before it vanished out of sight. Looking back, they all watched as the Diablon soured up into the air, spinning as it went to do a fantastic twirl that looked like some kind of angelic waltz.

"He's showing off that blasted machine again." Hare muttered callously. Technicians and other workers all over the Depot paused from the work to watch as Okida tested the capabilities of the Diablon outside of a battle situation.

Its wings spread out wide wither side as it hovered in the air high above. His arms and legs swung outwards as its pilot tested the movements, judging that it was just as agile as any body and his use of basic martial arts could be put to use with it.

With her arms wrapped around his chest was Topaz as she hugged him from behind. Her mind joined with his into the Diablon's control system allowed for use of the machine without dramatic injury to the pilot.

"So this is what its like to fly?" Topaz asked through the link, sensing the exhilaration of powered flight through the Diablon as it spread its wings out wide. Okida's own wings twitched slightly and he managed an unnerved expression.

The Diablon dropped down to the ground, slowing its decent with its wing spread out before gently touching down and kneeling. The cockpit opened and the major dropped down, sliding down the thigh of the colossal machine before touching the ground himself. Topaz unwrapped herself from him and stood for a moment unsteadily on her feet.

"I'm not certain you should keep coming with me into the Diablon." The major stated without turning to look at her.

"And what, let you get mangled up again?" She asked with raising an eyebrow.

"I have to fight in this thing." He carried on. "And you're too valuable to loose in battle." He realized his mistake. "Too valuable to the ship and the team. We all need you." She stared him directly in the face. It was clear from her expression that she was cross.

He returned the glare and the two of them stood there staring at each other, each of them trying to out do the other in a frowning competition.

"Live for the moment." Topaz began still with the darkened brooding look on her face that held the power of a raging storm. "That's what I said isn't it?" He nodded once, remembering that speech all too well.

"Yeah." He replied simply. A sudden and unexpected smile crossed her face. Before he could apprehend what was going on, she leaned forward and grabbed him; pushing her lips against his. Rational thought on the Majors part didn't have time to work for natural instincts kicked in and he kissed her back.

It lasted barely a few moments before she broke it off and Okida was left standing there with his senses absent from his body.

"What was that for?" He asked, putting the back of his sleeve to his lips as if she'd slapped him.

"So you can understand why I can't let you die in this rust bucket." She replied sternly. She reached up and gently tapped the side of his face. "I'm fighting with you whether you like it or not." With that she walked off, purposely swaying her hips in his direction.

Okida was left standing there looking dazed, unable to believe exactly what had just happened.

The Diablon's eyes glowed blue for a moment.

"Ah shut up." He told the mech without looking at it.

* * *

-

Sure enough, a meeting had been called on the bridge and that was where they found Chuck, Sonic and the others. Darion, the Lieutenant General, was here as well but his attention was occupied at the far end of the bridge; he still fuming mad about the runaway guest he was supposed to be looking after. Presently he was using the Blue Typhoon's communications array to see if she had been sighted anywhere across town.

"What's the matter?" Chris asked seeing his grandfather's scowling expression.

"Eggman." Amy stated simply leaning on her hammer.

"He's here." Sonic put in."

"What? Where?" Bean asked looking stunned.

"He's the confederation representative overlooking the tournament as overseer." Sonic replied leaning against the side of the wall. "We saw him call the opening for the exhibition race on the large screen in the plaza."

"Just look at this!" Chuck declared; slapping down a poster Sonic had acquired in town on the side of the captains chair. Plastered on it was the image of Doctor Eggman in a ringmaster's uniform, gesturing with both arms towards the opening of a large circus tent that had his imperial symbol on the top of it. Several of his robots were performing various tricks, such as balancing on a large rubber ball with juggling and talking the high wire. "Part of the race is even through the new 'Eggman-Circus park'."

"Circus park?" Chris repeated with raised eyebrows. "He's building a theme-park here? And they're letting him?"

"He's a big wig with the Confederation now." The hedgehog replied turning away with a grim smile. "That gives him the funding and now that he's an overseer for the tournament, he gets planning and construction permission for various pieces of land used by the tournament on the planets it's held on."

"With that kind of leeway he can build just about anything." Knuckles agreed.

"But why a Circus theme park?" Chris asked again.

"Must be a front of some kind, just a cover story he's using."

"It's a trap that's what it is!" Chuck carried on. "That man's got no honour. Everything he does is for his own personal gain." He looked up to see their new visitor. "Who's this?" Everyone looked up to see Cream's new friend standing there looking at them all.

"Hey Cream who's you new buddy?" Sonic asked with a smile. Sera was standing there looking stunned in the presence of her hero, hen she soared over him as if teleporting. Sonic backed off in surprise as the olive green eyes appeared directly in front of him.

"Oh my god it's actually him!" She nearly cried out. "Meow. This is great! I've been wanting to meet you ever since I saw your victory over the Destroyer." She was hanging in front of him so much her breasts were almost pressed against him. Sonic looked a little taken aback. Amy looked jealous.

"You've fans on other planets remember?" Hare asked crossing his arms in front of himself and looking a little jealous. Sonic managed a very large grin.

"Oh yeah, guess it slipped my mind." He laughed. Looking back the hedgehog noticed the girls head was still hung very low. "That's ok, really. You don't have to do that. I'm not looking for praise." He stood back up quickly looking a little sheepish.

Sera simply began to purr.

Sonic caught the hostile look Amy was sending him.

"What?" He asked trying to look as innocent as he could with his nose almost pressed in her cleavage.

"Nothing, I'm sure it's perfectly normal for girls to throw themselves at you." Amy muttered folding her arms and glancing away as if sulking. Sera had not made a good first impression with her.

"So what's the name?" Sonic asked trying to steer the conversation away from dangerous grounds.

"This is Sera." Cream replied for her.

"Sera?" The Lieutenant General repeated as if recognising the name. He whirled around and his eyes widened at the sight of the girl. "You!" He declared with a high voice, jabbing a large claw towards the girl.

"MEOW!" Sera suddenly cried; looking intensely alarmed with her tail suddenly jerking back and forth as if someone had stepped on it. She made a break for the bridge door but two of the Lieutenant General's soldiers stepped in front of it, barring her way. Sera desperately looked for another exit but there wasn't one in sight. Turning back, she saw the Riggerical standing before with his face a silent mask of barely contained fury.

"Sera, what's the matter?" Cream asked glancing back and forth between the Lieutenant General and the girl. Her ears were drooping and she had a nervous smile over her face.

"She's not in trouble is she?" Francis asked looking a little concerned.

"You damn well bet she is!" Darion snarled baring his teeth. "I've been searching for this trouble maker all damn day!"

"I thought you were looking for the President's…" But Chris' voice trailed off when he realized the obvious. Picking up on the fact too everyone else turned to look directly at Sera with stunned expressions.

"Sera…" Cream began almost in awe. "You're the President's daughter?" Sera pressed her lips together looking apprehensive and then she relented with a loud sigh.

"Meow…Alright fine you got me." She declared looking as if she'd just been caught stealing, her eyes not daring to meet those of the rest of them, especially Darion. "Yep that's me. The girl who happens to share a family link to the elected state official."

"I had my men scouring the entire city looking for you!" The Lieutenant General snarled, clenching and unclenching his large scaly fists at either side of his body. "You jumped the fence the moment you landed here leaving the rest of us with a damn goose chase around town!"

"Hey hey, calm down lizard man; I went exactly where I was supposed to go." The cat girl replied. "I went to see the opening events of the Grand Prix."

"You what!"

"Meow. If I'd have waited for all that presidential security crap I'd have missed it." Darion's left eye attained a psychotic twitch. "Besides you guys are social lead weights." The Lieutenant General looked as if he was about to reach out and strangle her, but was keeping his temper in check as such action could result in very unpleasant repercussions.

"I don't get it, why'd you leave? Staying with these guys would have meant V.I.P seats and unlimited funds." Rouge asked looking a little confused. "Yet you went off for seats in the sun with barely enough credit to afford them."

"You try being followed by the Federal agents and escorted everywhere by an armed patrol and see how you like it." Sera replied flatly with a feline hiss. "It gets old real fast. I just wanted to go out by myself for a single day without having bodyguards forming a circle around me at all times."

"There are Fesonian representatives in town." Darion reminded her. "An assassin could have come with them. We can't take any chances."

"Why not let her stay with us?" Cream asked looking up. The Lieutenant General glanced down at the rabbit girl who was barely a tenth his overall size. "We'll look after her." The sheer innocence of that statement mellowed his temper out a little and he relaxed his broad shoulders.

"It's not that simple." He replied.

"Actually, I think it is." Sonic stated gaining everyone's sudden attention. Sera looked up towards her hero with a confused look on her face. The blue hedgehog was smiling at her. "Why not let us protect her? We won't crowd her and we can probably give her more protection than you guys can." Darion looked unsure if he should take that as a friendly offer or an insult. Personally he'd be glad to have this Federal burden taken off him but still he did have his duty.

"Yeah we can manage it." Francis added with a wide smile.

"You guys mean that?" Sera asked looking a little stunned with a look of slight awe.

"It's not as if I can just hand her over." Darion stated. "If her father gets wind of this I could face a court martial."

"Not if you don't tell him about it." Sonic replied slyly.

"Pardon?"

"Just say that she's being protected by some of the best and leave it at that." Before anyone could say anything more the door to the bridge opened and one of the technicians from the depot walked inside.

"I've a package here for a Mr…" She paused to look at the label. "S.T. hedgehog." Cradled in her arms was a package wrapped in brown paper and tied up with string. By the shape of it all they all guessed it was a surf board of some kind.

"Ok that's me." Sonic replied walking over.

"Dark Oak's not sending us something again is he?" Hare asked looking a little apprehensive.

"Nah, I ordered this." The blue hedgehog added signing his name on the form before the technician handed it to him. Once it was officially his he placed it down on one of the side panels and began to pull it open.


	19. Episode 10, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO GO GO GO, LET'S GO!

Episode 10: The exhibition matches

* * *

Participants from planets all over Com-Fed and various other territories had come to take part in the Ex Galaxy Grand Prix. They were here in their dozens. Teams, hopeful individuals and factions were competing against each other just for the right to participate. Many had come to try their luck but only a grand total of twenty would be accepted to begin the preliminaries. 

Various obstacles and small circuit tracks had been laid out for them to use. Some were already trying their luck, being graded on their performance by a panel of judges that watched from the sidelines. One of them did a perfect vertical accent up a stone pillar at a tremendous speed and spun in the air before landing gracefully back on the ground. The judges all looked fairly impressed and began writing down notes on the pieces of paper in front of them.

Having already secured a place, Jet was not worried in the least which about whom he was to compete against.

He had been standing there watching the potential competition for about half an hour and concluded that while they were good tournament standard racers; compared to him or any other Babylon Rogue, they were pitiful.

That title was in the bag.

Still he must remember that this tournament was not their chief concern.

They had other tasks here and Wave had taken considerably measures to remind him of that.

The Hawk glanced up to see Doctor Eggman, the overseer of the tournament, sitting in his private viewing box watching the competition with a grim look on his face, as if he had been expecting something more to spice the racing up.

"You just wait until I get out there." Jet found himself muttered, turning to leave. Suddenly, the doors to the near empty stadium swung open. The hawk glanced back over his shoulder to see a figure striding in.

Eggman glanced down towards the new comer and once he saw who it was, smiled evilly.

"Ah, right on cue." The Doctor chuckled to himself and everyone stopped what they were doing to observe the approach of a blue hedgehog. With his extreme Gear tucked under his arm and green tinted glasses over his eyes, Sonic stopped a short distance to observe all those assembled here before walking further in. Everyone was staring at him having not expecting the interruption.

"You want to participate?" Someone asked; a large human that looked as if he was in charge. Sonic smiled grimly.

"Yeah." Was all he said before walking past towards the centre of the stadium.

"Who does this guy think he is?" Someone asked amongst the hushed whispers in the crowd.

"I think I've seen him before someplace." Another began.

"Looks a little short to even try to enter the Grand Prix."

"He's no shorter than Jet, and he's a champion."

"You've not comparing this shrimp to Jet are you?"

His smile refusing to leave his face, Sonic arched his arm and his gear spiralled into the air. While it was still spinning, he jumped onto it; his feet sliding into the perfection positions and using all the gathered momentum to propel himself forward. Rocketing down the first course, he slid almost expertly through the various obstacles placed in his way.

Sliding up a ramp, the blue hedgehog took the opportunity to do an air guitar move with his gear, before somersaulting back onto it as he landed.

He wasn't finished there though. As soon as that course ended the next began and Sonic went straight onto it. The track raised up several dozen feet into the air on a narrowing ramp. Sliding his gear along the side, Sonic used a trick he'd picked up to grind along the narrow pass until he reached the outer side; doing a 360 degree flip to come down backwards but loosing no grace in the attempt.

A collective: 'Ooooo', echoed from the watchers followed by silence as Sonic sped up as shot towards the spire that tested the acrobatic skill of potential contestants. Not only did the hedgehog rocket up the side of it, but he managed to spiral all around the spire before spinning high up into the air to do a complex acrobatic trick before come down again.

Once on the ground, Sonic tapped the back end of his gear with his foot so it flipped back into his hands.

"So, do I get in?" He asked. Everyone before him was speechless. The silence was only interrupted when a single person began clapping.

"Bravo." Recognising the voice, Sonic snapped to the side to see the overseer approaching. "An impressive display of talent." Doctor Eggman stated as the others parted to let him and his two Dreadnaught robot escort through.

"You…" The blue hedgehog hissed with his voice brimmed with unmistakable venom. "You've got a lot of guts showing your face after what you pulled!"

"Please hedgehog, we're in civilised company." The Doctor replied with a superior smirk on his voice. "Besides, as far as I'm concerned all that nasty business is water under the bridge."

"You betrayed my entire planet for your own personal gain!" Sonic's anger was more than evident. "You honestly think I'm going to let that go?"

"You will if you want to enter this tournament." Eggman stated calmly. "As overseer, I have the right to ban entry to any peoples I deem unworthy or unruly." The blue hedgehog fumed silently for a moment before lowering his fists. "I could do that to you… but why bother when I can simply watch you beaten at your own game in front of an entire galaxy?"

The Doctor turned to face the confused audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" He began spreading his arms out wide. "Let me be the first to present to you the legendary racer you will be competing against in the tournament; I give you, Sonic the Hedgehog."

Murmurs sprung up within the small crowd and along the judges table. None of them could believe that the blue creature standing before them was the one and only Sonic, the one who triumphed over the dark Destroyer.

"Ok Eggman, spill it." Sonic began fixing the Doctor's back with a glare. "What are you up to here?" Sonic could not figure out why the Doctor was handing him a free pass into the tournament.

"And spoil the surprise? Come now." Eggman said with a short chuckle. "I believe you've already met our resident Champion, Jet?" Sonic heard the rustle of feathers behind him and glancing back he saw a slim figure standing there with its hands on its hips.

A match for the hedgehog himself in terms of physique, Jet had the illusion of being taller because the display of feathers from the back of his head. His eyes were sea blue and rimmed around with blood red.

"Oh yeah, we've met." Sonic replied. There was no doubt that this was the same guy he had attempted to out duel the other night in the city.

"I see you've learned some of the basics in Gear handling." Jet began, glancing at the Rengoku in Sonic's grasp. "Nice Extreme Gear too. But you're still a novice in this sport. No match for me." The arrogance in his voice tested Sonic's patience to the extreme.

"I learn real fast." The blue hedgehog said slowly. A grim smile spread over Jet's face.

"I certainly hope so. If not, this tournament's going to be real boring."

"Jet here wants the title 'fastest-thing-alive'." Eggman carried on as the two rivals studied each other. "You already won that title at the Emerald Grand Prix on Earth. It will be most interesting to see if you can hold onto it." Signalling to his two guard robots, the Doctor walked off through the startled racers.

Sonic turned to watch him go.

Something was going on here beyond this tournament. Just where did Dark Oak and his new Chaos Emerald scavenger hunt fit into this? And what was Eggman really hoping to accomplish with all this?

Turning back, the hedgehog discovered that Jet had vanished.

"Don't either of you worry." He muttered with a smile spreading across his face at the anticipation. "I'll give you the challenge you want.

* * *

-- 

"Good morning Chimera!" The moment the top of the sun began to peek around the horizon, the broadcast rang out across the airwaves with the declaration so loud that Hare regretted leaving his radio next to his hammock on

The loud yell shot through his large ears, sending him away so fast he shot upright too quickly and lost his balance, the hammock tipping over so he fell out of it and onto the floor. "This is your territory DJ; Piranha bringing you happy planet bound listeners out there the latest news and tunes without the Com-Fed red tape."

"This thing can pick up alien radio transmissions?" Hare asked himself, picking up the small handle held thing from the top of the barrel that served as his bed side table. With so many people onboard the Typhoon now, Hare had moved out of his room make space for others. Instead now he rigged a hammock across two support columns in one of the supply rooms and that had to do for him. On a plus side it maintained a cool temperature so the various food stuffs stacked in crates around him would last longer and that helped to ward the vicious hot summer this planet was being backed inside.

"People, I think I speak for everyone when I say; 'Man is it hot!'" The radio began again.

"You can say that again." The rabbit like mobian stated almost in reply, climbing back into his hammock to enjoy a few more hours before he had to venture out into the blistering heat.

"Yet even that isn't hindering the anticipated launch of the Ex Galaxy Grand Prix, being held in Metal City at noon. Yours truly will be to give you up the minute coverage on my holographic broadcast. Since it won't be charging you a penny it is technically it will be a pirate broadcast so I'll be in disguise. If any Com-Fed race officials are listening then consider this fair warning."

Hare was mostly ignoring him and fell back into his hammock to try and drift back to sleep.

"And here's a piece of news everyone's going to want to hear. A last minute change to the line up has just been made to include a new racer. Hold onto your hats folks because it's none other than Sonic the Hedgehog." Hare opened on eye and looked at the radio. "You heard me people, the Destroyer of the Destroyer himself is going to be competing against already legendary racers in their own right.

The decision to let him compete was parentally made by the Confederation race overseer, Doctor Eggman himself. It's an event that has sent last minute ticket sales through the roof."

The DJ was not exaggerating. Since word got out that 'THE' Sonic the Hedgehog would be competing, crowds around the stadium starting line had intensified ten fold. Having seen the defeat of the Destroyer on the broadcasts quite a large fandom base had been formed amongst the civilians of the Federation. While Sonic was grateful for the extra backing, there were just as many people here with 'Go- Babylon Rogues' shirts than waving blue flags with an 'S' on them.

"I don't entirely get why you need to do this." Knuckles admitted as the Hedgehog and the Echidna stood on the outskirts, watching the people quickly fill up the seats in the stadium.

"My titles at stake." Sonic replied, a wide smirk on his face. "Besides, there's no better way of staying close to Eggman to find out what he's up to here."

"Pride huh?"

"Got it in one." With that the hedgehog walked off, as the racers were being called to the starting positions.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls; welcome everyone to the opening events of the EX Galaxy Grand Prix!" Doctor Eggman proclaimed, hovering high above the race starting posts in another of his floating contraptions.

The crowds cheered out load as the racers got into position. Sonic glanced up around at all those gathered to watch the beginning of the tournament. The stadium was completely packed to near breaking point. This was being broadcast all over Chimera and across the galaxy to other planets in Com-Fed territory. "I hope you're all ready for a show. We've got an exciting line up just for you bored masses."

The blue hedgehog glanced down the line of racers lined up along the starting line. Many contestants from races across the galaxy had turned up to participate. There were humans, Falcons, Reptilians and many other different species that Sonic did not recognise. They all had Extreme Gears with them. Each board had been customized to suit their owners. Down at the far end was Jet, Wave and Storm.

All members of the Babylon Rogues stood along side other. Sonic fixed them with a glare. Jet noticed the scrutiny and looked over, an arrogant smile spreading across his beak.

"This first race will determine just who faces who during the initial phase of the tournament." The Doctor announced, standing aloft on the floating platform with the microphone in his hand. "The racers will be graded on their overall performance and matched accordingly on the board.

This may not seem important but keep in mind that with this race our contestants can control who they face in the coming rounds. So please, I hope you all join me in wishing these elite class racers the best of luck." The cheering and loud clapping continued.

"Sonic, you get out there and kick butt!" Amy called out from the stands cupping her hands around her mouth. Sonic smiled back and her and gave a thumb's up.

"This is so going to rock." Sera declared confidentially sitting in the seat between Cream and the pink hedgehog. "My hero Sonic and the Grand Prix, all in one package. This is great! You rock Sonic!"

"Stop showing him your cleavage and sit down." Amy muttered half glancing away. "You're not the first fan girl to try and show him a bit of skin." Sera glanced up, her ears pressed against the back of her head.

"And you would know?

"Yes actually I would."

"Meow? Are you his girlfriend or something?" The cat-girl asked, her ail swishing back and forth with a sly smile.

"Well…" Amy stuttered looking a little unprepared for the question.

"No? Meow! Then he's single." There was a hungry glint in Sera's eyes that Amy did not like one bit.

"I don't like you." She muttered to herself.

Cream wasn't listening. Her gaze was fixed on the man beside her. He was human, but had strange physical adaptations such as a wide mouth with a row of very sharp teeth behind them. There was a pair of silted gills behind his ears on the neck and translucent scales down his back. He had a small device about the size of a cup placed on his left shoulder, briefly concealed by an up-turned collar. A camera lens was staring out at the racers.

"At this point I would like to remind the contestants that this is a 'no-holds-barred' tournament.

Stay on the marked course, but apart from that;

Do whatever it takes to win!" The Doctor's hover vehicle descended to the track and Eggman himself stood up straight, holding out a large black and white patch flag up in his left hand. "The course today is through Metal City's central market quarter, down into downtown and across the bridge that leads to the rainforest outside the city walls. From there the course is marked to lead you back to the Stadium." Eggman gestured upwards to the screens above where the course was marked out. All the racers seemed to look up at once.

Several places had been marked with large red dots. "There are checkpoints dotted throughout the course and the contestants will only qualify the race by going past them. How they reach each one is completely up to them." The screen changed to show the various locations one after the other.

Large metallic pillars with sensors attached so they would record when each racer came within qualifying distance stood erect out in the open. "Coming in first place will earn you points, but you can gain just as much from tricks performed on the track itself. This first race is a contest of skill rather than raw speed." Eggman's smile widened into a smirk. "That'll come later in the tournament."

Those rules sounded simply enough and took some of the burden off Sonic's shoulders. Still, he would do well to face Jet and the other Babylon Rogues in the later rounds, once he'd attained enough experienced with Extreme Gear to challenge them. Despite how easy he made it look, using this board was quite difficult; especially for one who was used to using his own momentum on the ground.

But he wasn't about to let someone claim HIS title. And he was sure they would wring some information out of Eggman at the same time.

"Racers! On your marks!" The declaration brought the hedgehog out of his line of thought. Eggman's arm was raised with the flag high in the air.

The entire stadium went hushed as the racers lined themselves out in a perfect line on the starting position. The road out of the stadium sketched out before them, an invitation so strong that Sonic felt the muscles in his legs tensing.

Sera was almost leaning against the rail in anticipation as she watched. Amy's mouth went dry. Fang managed a wide sadistic smile and put his feet up on the rail in front of him. This ought to be good.

"Get Set!" The racers all descended into a crouch all at the same time, Extreme Gear's held behind them with the throwing arm muscles tensing. The Doctor paused to gaze out towards Sonic, who caught his look.

Eggman smiled, his expression sending the message; 'Good luck, you're going to need it.' Sonic just frowned in response. "And GO!" The flag came down and the instant it was all the way down all the racers seemed to act as one. Their arms arching forward and spinning their Gear's forward as if they were Frisbees.

The race got underway the moment the last racer made contact with his gear and they coursed forward over the staring line. Streams and balloons were sent flying into the air as the crowd cheered.

The countdown was over and the Ex Galactic Grand Prix had officially begun.

* * *

- 

Another morning came by and so far Helen had said nothing.

It was clear, despite her silence, what depths of depression she was suffering from. Chris was now frantic to do something. He wished he could just snap his fingers and bring Helen back to her cheerful, optimistic self. When Danny showed him the medical journals that the Scimitar's doctor had left behind, it was almost as if an angel had handed him the idea.

"Is this even possible?" Danny asked as Chris took to the idea enthusiastically.

"Doctor's on Earth were toying around with the idea for years." Chris replied, a wide smile spreading over his lips. "But they never had the technology. Com-Fed science, medical science especially, is like nothing we've seen. If they say they can do it, I bet they can." Danny lanced up at Chris and studied the joyous expression on the teenagers face. He then smiled himself.

"You really like her don't you?" Chris hesitated and looked back. "Can't say I blame you. You and her were best friends from like kindergarten." Chris' face adopted a suddenly stricken expression. "I read somewhere that best friends make the best lovers." The teenagers face when bright red.

"Now hold it right there." Chris blustered trying to control his colour. "She's my friend and I care about what happens to here, but that's where it ends!"

"I can see you haven't had much experience in dating." Danny added with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, you did get thrown into all this when you were like ten. It hasn't left the last six years of your life with much time to get out there."

"Look can we get back to that important stuff here?" Chris asked. "Like how we're going to do this?"

"Darion gave your grandfather the address of that hospital they sent the injured to didn't he?" Danny asked, putting the coupling matter aside for the moment. Chris nodded once. "I'll head there and see what I can find out about it."

"Think we should tell Helen about it?" The Thorndyke asked. "Or at least find out how she feels about this?" Danny shook his head.

"We still don't know that much about it all, so I think it's best if we keep quiet until we have more information." Chris was forced to nod in agreement. He most of all did not want to give Helen false hope. Not in her fragile state.

"What about Francis?"

"I already told her. I also told her not to say anything to Helen yet?"

"What about grandpa? He's not much of a medical doctor, but his mechanic skills are top notch. Maybe he can help." Danny shook his head thoroughly.

"I've seen how Chuck gets whenever he hears about new technology or piece of hardware. He'd barge past anyone to take it apart in order to see how it works." Chris laughed nervously. That sounded like his grandfather alright. Hardly the one to place subtly on any subject concerning new technology.

"Ok. You go check it out. I'll keep an eye on Helen while Francis is away at the Stadium with the others." Danny raised an eyebrow and smiled. Chris raised a single to silence the statement about to pass his friends lips. "Just get going."

Surprisingly, Chris did not find Helen sitting on the sofa in his quarters. How she could have left without the use of a wheelchair baffled him but eventually found that she had not gone far.

She had somehow managed to make it into the side bedroom and into his bed. She was asleep, turned with her back to him as he stepped through the door.

Somehow she had made from the sofa to the bed. There was little on the way for her to lean on for support and without the use of her legs even the short trip would have proven difficult.

Compulsion driving the action, Chris gently ran his fingers through her long blonde hair. Suddenly realizing what he was doing he paused, fingers frozen where they were.

Then taking full control, he gently laid his hand by her shoulder and kept it there.

"I'm going to help you Helen." He whispered almost silently. "I can tell you that for nothing."

* * *

- 

Using Extreme Gear was very different from normal sprinting. Sonic had already discovered there. But this technology seemed to work in compliment to his own skills. His streamlined body seemed almost purpose made for this sport and the launch his speed had given him at the start had give him a good head start against the others.

Extreme Gear boards, according to the instruction manual, were run not by an internal power supply but rather by the air passing through as it soured along

They were purposely designed so that the more aerial tricks pulled off meant more agility in the board itself. The racers were all taking every opportunity they could get to perform summersaults and rolls as the racer progressed through Metal City.

The Babylon Rogues were no acceptation. Storm the Albatross was performing acrobatic sweeps, avoiding obstacles placed along the track.

Wave took a higher route, sliding along the side of the buildings; slipping along the vertical surface as if gravity were directed that way.

Out of all of them Jet was showing off the most. He barley seemed to move steady for a single moment, each roof top he flew over he performed an amazing acrobatic trick on. Sonic could hear the cheers from the stadium even all the way out here.

"Up stage me will you?" He asked, before souring forward and arching up the side of a building, shooting out onto the rooftop. Jet was forced to come to a stop as the blue hedgehog rocketed up into his path nearly cutting him off.

Sonic flew up into the air, twisting his body around in the air like a spinning top with his board pressed close to his body before plummeting back down. Jet was left standing there looking stunned as the blue hedgehog soured on leaving him in the dust.

"Ok hedgehog, you want a war? You got one!" The hawk snarled from behind his clenched beak.

The racers names were all listed on the big screen overlooking the stadium and points were being attributed to them as they performed more tricks and moves out on the track. Currently, the Babylon Rogues were ahead by a couple of thousand points.

"I can't see Sonic's name on the list." Amy complained, glancing up and down the text but wasn't finding any mention of the blue hedgehog.

"At the bottom." Fang replied, looking out from under his hat lazily with a bored expression on his face. "That boyfriend of yours has the lowest score out of all of them." Amy followed his gaze and looked horrified at the sight of Sonic's name at the very bottom.

Points were steadily being gathered, but Sonic still had the lowest score out of all twenty.

"Both legendary Racers, Jet the Hawk and Sonic the Hedgehog appear to be competing against each other for camera time." Doctor Eggman declared. Several more screens showed that Jet and Sonic were competing violently against one another with stunts and tracks to try and impressive the flying robotic cameras following the race as it progressed through the gates of the city and outside into the rainforest beyond its borders.

Cream's attention was now completely on the guy sitting next to her. He had a small optics device over one eye and was pressing the buttons on a small control panel in his hand.

All over the track, small concealed robotic camera that did not belong to the Doctor observed the race and their images were being transmitted via pirate broadcast to nearly all of Chimera and many of the space stations in orbit.

"What's this?" The doctor demanded suddenly spotting one of them. "Those aren't my cameras. Someone's stealing the broadcast."

The federation guard at the stadium responded nearly instantly, tracking equipment going up to locate the source of the controller that was being used to direct the unregistered cameras.

"There!" one of them declared pointing off in the crowd.

"Ah nuts." The guy sitting next to Cream declared once he realized he had been discovered, leaping from his seat and making a break for it as the guards gave chase.

"Back off hedgehog this is my show." Jet remarked as the two of them drew level.

"I might if you tell me why you stole that Chaos Emerald." Sonic replied slyly. The hawk snarled at him and carried on; tilting himself toward to the weight difference caused his Extreme Gear to accelerate. Sonic grinned and did the same, the two of them competing with each other for first and second place.

The trees of the forest flew past them so fast the outline blurred. The wind began to sting at this speed so Sonic flipped his green tinted glasses down to protect his eyes. Jet did the same with his goggles.

The others racers were starting to catch up with them, each sliding forward with a hope of trying to take a place in the top three ranks.

The finishing line was coming up fast as they darted through the forest back towards the Metal City entrance. The course lead back from there to the Stadium and it was here Sonic decided to kick things up a notch.

The hedgehog slammed his foot forward and this action caused his board to spin, throwing it forward as a tremendous speed; flying past Jet and taking first place.

"Not in this lifetime blue boy." The hawk spat, spreading out his wings either side. The air currents surged through his feathers, the added burst carrying him forward faster; the two of them coming neck and neck as they shot through the gate leaving a powerful gust of wind in their wake.

"Its Jet and Sonic neck and neck as they near the finish line." Eggman stated, leaning over the side of his floating seat to get a better look. "It looks like its going to be a photo-finish!" The crowds in and around the stadium waited as the two dots, one green one blue, came nearer and nearer. The other racers all did their best, throwing themselves into the race as much as they possibly could; forcing themselves to their physical limits and some of them came dangerously close to passing either Sonic or Jet.

Then the race was over as the hawk and the hedgehog shot over the finishing line.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this organizational match is over!" The Doctor declared and the crowds went wild.

Sonic jammed a foot down in the ground and skidded to the stop, flipping his Gear up into his arms.

Jet's stop was more gradual, his feathers forcing themselves against the air current before he came to a gentle stop.

Points for the racers were being tallied on the giant screen over the stadium. Each racer had their picture up their, along with a number which was constantly rising as more and more points were added. As each one number past another it was placed higher on the screen.

"That was so cool!" Sera declared, waving her arms around like a deranged fan girl.

"Sonic you were great!" Amy called out.

"Yeah sure whatever. Kudos." Fang murmured, the rim of his hat shading his face as he sat there with his feet up and his arms folded behind his head.

"Now then, let's see who the tournament lines up based on the performance from this race." The Doctor added, staring up at the screen. Sonic cast his eyes skyward and watched as a line graph appeared showing the various matches of the tournament. All sixty competitors were at the bottom and as a match was one, their numbers would be halved again until finally one two were left for the finals.

Sonic's icon was at one end of the screen, while Jet's was at the other; meaning that they were only going to face each other again in the finals. Providing they both made it that far.

"Fastest thing on the ground, maybe hedgehog." He heard Jet say as the hedgehog walked past. "But I'm the master of speed in the air." Sonic grinned and looked back.

"Well we'll just have to see which of us can claim the title for fastest overall." Jet narrowed his eyes, before turning away with his Extreme Gear in hand.

No one noticed the two solitary figures watching the festivities below from the top of the screen.

"While this is fairly amusing, I'm failing to see the need for this pointless exercise." Dark Oak stated; his metallic armoured arms folded over his chest.

"It is pointless." His companion declared. "Pointless, Chaotic and random. And that's why it will keep attention off the Emeralds, at least for the time being.

Black Doom does not understand pandemonium. He understands still-order. This will confuse him and delay his advance."

"But not stop it."

"Sadly no. There's nothing we can do to stop him but we can buy yourselves time at the very least." Seemingly satisfied with his answer, Dark Oak turned his head away and gazed back down at the floor of the stadium.

"Are you going to reveal yourself to them?" His companion hesitated, eyes widened and a fearful expression on his face.

"No… I…" He started. "I'm not ready yet."

"But you will eventually?" Silenced endured for a moment afterwards.

"Eventually."


	20. Episode 10, part 2

It was not overly surprising that Sonic would do well in the preliminary rounds. Doctor Eggman had been expecting that ever since the hedgehog had entered the tournament. Still, his presence had been rather alarming; at least on this planet. Exactly how he and his friends escaped the Egg Carrier's attack was a mystery he would have to dedicate some research too later.

For now however, the agenda of collecting the Chaos Emeralds without being suspected by the Federation authorities remained the great priority.

Questions and mysteries filled the Doctor's mind. How had Dark Oak survived and why had he seen fit to scatter the Emeralds on these planets and why had been seen fit to inform Eggman of it?

Clearly, the former Metal X general was up to something but what could it be? His master, the Destroyer, had been destroyed. There was no more reason for him to pursue the Emeralds, let alone organize this scavenger hunt between Sonic and the Doctor.

Well whatever his motivations, Dark Oak had give Eggman the chance to attain the power he required to both build his new interstellar empire, and topple one that existed.

"Doctor…" Eggman looked up as a holographic communications screen appeared before his desk. The single, dark orange and yellow eye of the Doom's Eye stared straight at him. "I see you're enjoying your first assignment."

"A relaxing break from a war zone." Eggman replied, leaning back in his seat. "I didn't know you were a fan of the Ex Galactic Grand Prix, it being a Federation event and all."

"Please Doctor, I may be the Combined Federation of Interstellar Nations' enemy, but I enjoy a good sporting event as much as the next sentient being." The starfish like creature replied, the reptilian silted pupil in the centre of the eye narrowing. "On another topic however, I would like to know how the raw metal and other resources I sent your people are being spent."

The Doctor relaxed his shoulders and rested his arms on the rests of his chair.

"Yes of course." He replied and gently tapped a button on the end of the left armrest. Another holographic image appeared, relayed over to the Dooms Eye's end of the transmission.

Light years away, on the border of conqueror Confederation territory and that belonging to Com-Fed, a massive factory was being constructed. An expansive floating installation that was constantly being shipped needed resources by Confederation transport ships.

The Doctor had dubbed this latest project; Egg Factory.

It was there that he was using the advanced technology gathered by the Confederates to create a production line of new robots to serve in the Doom's Eyes military force.

Eggman liked being given such wide perimeters to work with and a clean slate. Despite the fact he had other plans for these robots, he enjoyed designing them to be the best killing machines he could.

Becoe and Decoe were there already, overseeing the construction of the production line and the repair and refuelling of the Egg Carrier that remained docked in the largest service station the Factory had.

The Factory itself was about the size of a city and because of the long range communications technology of the Confederation, it could communication with the EggMoon in orbit around Earth and with the Doctor himself all the way here on Planet Chimera.

The factory was saucer shaped, with towers and other pieces of construction and building work almost seemed to growing from both the upper and under sides.

"These robots I've had on the drawing board for quite some time but never had the technology necessary to build them on a large scale." The Doctor explained, the view switching from the outside view of the factory to the inside installation. "But with the resources of the Confederation at my command, I can finally put a production line into operation." The Doom's eye watched as numerous kinds of robots were put together on the assembly line. There were dozens of different types, each of them purpose built for a particular function of environment.

Rows of mechanized giants marched forwards in disciplined rows, all of them armoured like knights with thick anti-projected armour over their chests and legs. Their arms carrying large forms of weaponry, ranging from laser rifles to heavy machine guns. Their heads were sunk into the shoulders and a pair of glass protected optics stared out from behind a visor of black armour. They had the Confederation symbol, an Eye, painted on their left hand side.

Their overall size would have rivalled the tallest of any of G.U.N's mech's, at least fifty foot; and when they walked, their footsteps where in perfect unison; shaking the ground as they advanced forward.

"Impressive looking I'll admit." Doom's eye admitted. "But I'll be far more impressed with combat abilities than general appearance."

"Ask and you shall receive." Eggman replied before turning to face off camera. "Start the test run Decoe."

The leading row of robots stood to rigid attention as orders were sent to them remotely. Their eyes glowed blood red in response as data feed back and forth between the control computer and their own electronic minds. Together they walked forwards; the hanger door opened out into space. Once they reached the edge the simply stepped off and floated forward, before their bodies suddenly changing.

Their legs tucked under their torso's and the arms spread out wide side, a long set of wings spreading out. The conversion to space combat mode complete, the thrusters on their backs kicked into life and they soured off, flying towards the targets that had been set.

"Captain, we have incoming!" A Federation trade escort was passing through the area, desperate to return to the safety of their territory to escape the advance of the Confederation army.

"Confederates?" The captain asked.

"I don't know sire, we're not picking up any known relay signals. We've just got them on radar as hostile units." Before anything more could be dead, beams of light shot down on them; a laser blast striking one of the escort ships down. The vessel exploded silently in space, the shockwave sending the other ships flying forward.

The automated attack Mech swept by, firing as it went, the strikes blasting holes in the leading ships tearing a good chunk of its armour off.

"All ships, full retreat. Lay down cover fire!" The captain ordered but by then, any order he could give was far too late. The robots showed no mercy and carried out their orders to the letter.

By the time they were finished, all that remained of the Com-Fed convoy were scattered pieces of debris.

"Mission complete, return to base." One of the robots declared souring around to head back towards the Egg Factory's concealed position, the others following close behind. Doom's Eye had observed the carnage without blinking and once it was over, he turned back to face Eggman's transmission.

"How many of these machines have you made thus far?"

"Only fifty." The Doctor admitted with a brief shrug. "But the factory itself is still under construction. Once it is fully operational I estimate we should be able to manufacture over a hundred of these new models every twenty four hours." Apparently Doom's eye was very satisfied with that answer.

"Doctor, you have more than earned my trust in your engineering capabilities. If you can deliver as promised then I will grant you noble status within my aristocracy. It will instantly put in command of over half a dozen planets." The expression on the Doctor's face was unreadable and because of the helmet he was wearing, that prevented his psychic powers from working on him, the Dooms Eye was unable to tell if he was pleased by this or not.

"I look forward to that." Eggman eventually replied. "I will have my robots continue work on the production line." He cut off the transmission there and the hologram disappeared.

"Keep that kind of sloppy acting up and even without reading your mind he's going to suspect something." The Doctor glanced up to see Jet, the leader of the Babylon Rogues leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded.

"By that time the tournament will be over and all seven Chaos Emeralds will be in our hands, not to mention my creations placed across the Confederation's military force and the Egg Factory's true purpose put into effect." Eggman replied with a short grin. "Don't worry Jet I know what I'm doing."

"Well, your plan hinges on them Chaos Emeralds 'bein' all that'." The Hawk stated narrowing an eye at him. "You say they can take down the Doom's Eye? I'll believe that when I see it."

"They helped Sonic defeat the Destroyer. They should have no problem doing the same for us with the Doom's Eye." Jet was silent for a moment before he smiled grimly.

"Whatever you say Doc, my next match begins in ten minutes, so I'll let you do the brain work while I gather the rocks."

"An arrangement that suits me just fine."

* * *

-

The next few days of the tournament were the preliminary rounds. The course of each round was never the same, a twist that kept Sonic constantly on his toes.

During each match, he was put against a single racer and he competed against him over three laps to reach the finish line. It was a straight forward system that left no doubt about who advanced and who was eliminated.

Mastering the Extreme Gear Rengoku had taken little in the way of effort as Sonic was already naturally balanced and agility. What remained for him to get used to was the lack of actual running. He was used to feeling ground beneath his feet whenever he travelled fast and without it, travelling at such speed seemed awkward and artificial.

"Your name's all over Metal City Sonic." Knuckles told him as the two of them walked away from the stadium once his latest match had been won.

"Been there done that." Sonic replied his arms folded behind his head as he walked. The echidna managed a frown and put his hands on his hips. His Rengoku slung over his back, tied around his shoulders by a strap.

"What's got you so moody?" He asked.

"I've just got a lot of my mind that's all."

"Eggman huh?"

"Got it in one buddy." Sonic stopped to lean back against a wall, the two of them overlooking the central plaza of Metal City. Despite it being hot on this planet, people were here in great numbers to watch the large screen on the central building where the current standings for the tournament were being put up. Currently, Sonic was one of the favourites and his fan base was increasing by the minute. But Jet the Hawk, legendary for his Extreme-Gear skills, still held the majority vote of popularity.

Sonic cared little which the people liked more. The fact of the matter was that his title had been challenged and he was prepared to fight to the death to defend it.

But what concerned him even more was Eggman's sudden and strange motivations. What could he possibly hope to accomplish with this tournament?

It was certain the Babylon Rogues were working for him in some way and since they had taken one of the Chaos Emeralds, it was safe to deduce that the Doctor was searching for the Emeralds again.

"Rejoice!" A voice shouted and the hedgehog and the echidna glanced up to see a homeless man on the edge of the nearby sidewalk waving a protect board in the air. The words 'Fear not the Titans' was written in large slathering letters. His hair was long and wild and his eyes had a strange red parlour to them. He dressed in filthy rags and even from this distance Sonic could smell him "Rejoice and repent for golden age returns to you all. Those that stand before it with joy in their hearts will be accepted and granted mercy. Those that stand before it with weapons will die; reduced to the foulest doom imaginable. The blackest of dooms!" His ramblings were largely being ignored by the crowd who passed him by with scarcely a glance in his direction.

Sonic and Knuckles made off away from him.

"You!" The man shouted after them. "Turn your back on the coming age and you will invoke the wrath of Doom!" Sonic shrugged and carried on. "He will destroy you Iblis Trigger, and the great un-maker will emerge through the gate he opens. Then your friends will die just like your parents did!" Sonic stopped in mute astonishment and glanced back. The man was gone, not a trace of his existence remaining.

"What was that about?" Knuckles asked. "And what the hell is an Iblis Trigger?" Sonic felt a cold wave pass over him at those words before shrugging the encounter off as best he could and carrying on with Knuckles in tow, trying to think of more pressing matters.

Exactly how Eggman had known the Emeralds were here was another missing piece of the puzzle.

Going up and simply asking him about it was going to be a complete waste of time. The Doctor wasn't going to tell them anything and in his present position as overseer of the tournament, the hedgehog could not accuse him of anything without irritating the Federation higher ups. While he was here, Eggman could enjoy the Com-Fed equivalent of diplomatic immunity.

Nor could he go after the Babylon Rogues. He hadn't any evidence to suggest that they were the ones responsible for the theft from the Metal City museum and being top notch competitors in the tournament they were nearly as untouchable as Eggman himself.

The last phase of the preliminary rounds of the tournament were to begin shortly. And they would be one a very different chorus than that through Metal City. The courses were being set up through the new amusement park Eggman had the permission to construct.

The thing took up a lot of land in Metal City and looked from a distance almost like a giant Big-Top. Doctor Eggman's face, drawn with the characteristics of a clown leered at anyone passing through the main entrance.

There were rides, performances and tricks performed by his robots and even a fireworks display planned for the closing events of the preliminaries. If Eggman was acting out the part of an organizer of sporting events, he was doing it very well.

Sonic had already heard that later rounds of the tournament would be held on another planet so the blue hedgehog hoped Chuck had finished outfitting the Typhoon and upgrading the ship by now.

"When's your next race?" Knuckles asked, bringing the hedgehog out of his trail of thought.

"In a few hours. It'll be my last match of the preliminaries. Good thing too, 'cause the guys they've been putting me up against so aren't much of a challenge." He glanced up towards the screen; showing the Babylon Rogue's latest race.

Jet had secured another victory.

"I want to get down to some serious racing."

"Don't worry hedgehog, you'll get your chance." Both Sonic and Knuckles glanced up as a shadow cast itself over them. Standing there blocking out the sun was a Babylon Rouge. Twice their height with grey feathers and wide arms stretching out either side. "Jets lookin' forward to the next chance he has to race you." Storm told them, clenching a fist for dramatic effect. "You…" The Albatross snarled, revealing his flat teeth.

Knuckles blinked, suddenly recognising this as one of the thieves he had knocked off the board he night they had tried to prevent the theft of a Chaos Emerald.

"I owe you big!" Storm reached over and took a lamp post between his fingers, clenching a fist around the metal. Once he released his hand, large indentations in the metal were plain to see. "Nobody decks Storm!"

"Well no one bests Knuckles the Echidna." Knuckles replied staring him right in the eyes, reaching over and bending the lamp back into its original position, his own strength smoothing out the dents.

"You have such a unique way of making friends Knuckles." Sonic commented with a raised eyebrow.

Storm snorted loudly and lifted both fists high in the air.

"Storm, that's enough." A feminine voice snapped. The albatross stayed his hand and glanced back. Approaching them from behind was another of the Babylon Rogues. She was one the Falcon race like the rest of them, with violet feathers and bird like features. She had a white bandana tied around her forehead and a pair of orange tinted spectacles balanced on the end of her short beak. "What have I told you about controlling that temper of yours?"

"Stay outta this Wave." Storm told her. "This is between me and the little red riding hood here." Knuckles frowned deeply in response.

"You need to get some rest before the final preliminaries start." Wave replied coolly, walking past her large comrade and tapping the side of his arm gently twice. "Save that wonderful aggression for the tournament and not on those who aren't even registered." Storm's glare shot from her to Knuckles and back again, before he grumbled loudly and stomped away; shoving several people aside as he went.

"I wish I'd signed up in the tournament just so I could give that beat that guy at his own game." Knuckles muttered.

"Storm's more of a fist fighter than a racer but it doesn't hurt to get a little cross training." The Babylon Rogue said, placing one hand on her hips. "I'm Wave. The brains of outfit for the Babylon Rogues."

"I thought Jet was your leader." Sonic asked giving her a glare.

"He is." She replied. "But I'm the one that has to organize everything for him." She smiled grimly. "Those two are either lazy or just plain ignorant when it comes to making plans." Sonic and Knuckles shot each other a look before turning back.

"So I guess that means you were the one who planned the theft of the Chaos Emerald." Wave glanced from left to right to make sure no one was standing within ear shot, when she widened her smile.

"What's the matter? Upset 'cause we got there first?" She reached up and brushed the larger feathers back behind her bandana. "Course we'll deny it in front of any authority and you've got no proof that it was us."

"I know." Sonic replied emotionlessly.

"But that's put all that behind us shall we?" Wave took a step forward. "I've heard you've got a ship in the depot. As an avid lover of mechanics and technology, I'd love to be given a guided tour."

* * *

-

It had taken several days to adapt the Typhoon to Federation technology, which Chuck had to admit was much more advanced than their own; but now all his work had paid off. The entire ship had been completely outfitted with the latest Com-Fed shielding, laser weapon, Space going engine and jump drive system.

One thing that surprised him was that their ships needed to build up energy before they could jump. As the Typhoon ship drew power directly from the Master Emerald it had no such time lag.

Confederation ships needed to build up energy before they could jump as well. This gave a speed advantage, which at the moment was one of the few blessings they could count on.

"I take it you've been busy." The blue hedgehog remarked as he and Knuckles walked up to the old man as he stood admiring his handwork. The engines on each side of the Typhoon had doubled in size and the entire ship had a new paint job. Gold covered the new engines with white interlaced into it like stars along their length. A canvas sheet cover was still hung over the middle section with ropes attaching it to the ship.

"I kept myself occupied." Chuck replied with a smile before he waved off towards the ship. Hare and Fang were sitting on the top of the canvas and the rabbit nodded in reply. He nudged Fang, yelling at him to get his ass in gear, before the two of them pulled the canvas up revealed what was painted underneath.

Sonic pressed his lips together at the sight of the icon. Two fox tails upon a circle of sly blue. It was Tails' symbol, the icon he put on all of his inventions. After a moment he looked up at Chuck, who was waiting for some kind of reaction from the blue hedgehog.

Sonic nodded once in approval.

"The Blue Typhoon huh?" Wave asked looking the ship over. "Definitely smaller than I thought it would be, given its reputation." Her eyes fell on the new adaptations. "But size is never a guarantee of quality."

"You wait until you see inside." Sonic told her. If she wanted to see some advanced pieces of technology, he was going to give her more than she bargained for.

"Nice." A voice started from behind them. Chuck looked up to see the towering form of Darion, the Lieutenant General in charge of Com-Fed operations on this planet. "I see my credit's been well spent."

"I think the traders who sold me the various parts overcharged me." Chuck told him. Darion managed a smile despite having scaly lips.

"I didn't expect them not to." He scratched the end of his snout. "How's Sera? Her Father wants me to send him a report."

"She's with my grandson and his friends." Chuck replied. "I think they've accepted her into their little group. That doctor you sent arrived with them about ten minutes ago."

"Doctor?" Darion repeated. "What Doctor? I didn't send any Doctor." Chuck blinked and adopted a confused look.

"That Doctor from the Scimitar, Alicia. Didn't you send her here?" The Lieutenant General shook his wide head. "Well if you didn't send her then what is she doing here?"

* * *

-

Having seen stranger things before, Helen did not think the cat girl sitting nearby was anything to stare at. What caught her attention more than anything was her lack of manners or social grace.

Supposedly she was to be the daughter of the President of the Federation. Yet instead she appeared to be a perfectly normal behaving 18 year old girl, apart from the cat ears and tail of course. Hardly what Helen had been expecting when Francis told her about this guest of theirs.

She sat on the sofa watching the wide screen TV, having been retuned to pick up Chimera transmissions, with her feet up on the table in front of her. She had a deep frown on her face as she flicked through the thousands of channels on this planet one by one.

"Meow. What's eating you?" She asked eventually, leaning back to look over her shoulder at Helen who was sitting in the chair quietly watching her. Helen sis not reply, she simply averted her gaze and stared out the window. Sera pursed her lips before smiling evilly. "I wouldn't look so down if I were you. Not after what that boy-friend of yours has arranged for you." She looked up, her expression warranting further explanation. "Meow. You'll see." Sera added ominously turning back to the TV.

Rouge had done them all a favour by buying clothes far more suited for Chimera's intense heat than the ones they had bought with them. Helen was currently using a piece of clothing that looked more like a nightgown than summer-wear. Such loose and sparse clothing was definitely far comfortable but the revealing design certainly took some getting used to.

Still, none of that seemed important. In fact, nothing did anymore. The enormity of her situation seemed utterly trivial compared to all she had seen.

Instead of bursting out in tears, she bottled the emotions up inside her; adding to the ever growing well of repressed anger, grief and sorrow inside her. She was aware it was very unhealthy to do so but right now she didn't care.

Her face stung from the excess of tears she had already shed. She didn't want to cry anymore.

Cream stuck her head in the door and looked around, Cheese sitting on the top of her head. Sera grinned showing her fangs and gave her a thumbs up. Cream nodded and stepped back out.

Helen was now getting suspicious.

After a moment the door opened fully and several people walked in. Danny, Francis and Chris were there along with Cream, Emerl and her Chao. Amongst them was another human, a tall woman with pale skin. She had brown hair and kind eyes. She had a white lab style coat on and in one hand was a silver container the size and shape of a brief case.

"Hello there you must be Helen." She began, smiling at the girl as she placed the case down beside her on the floor. Sera looked over at Francis who nodded once with a wide smile on her face. "Your friends have asked me to take a look at you." Before Helen could say anything the Doctor reached into her white coat pocket and withdrew a small paper strip. This she pressed gently against the girl's forehead and waited. Slowly it changed colour from ordinary white to a deep red.

"I don't understand." She admitted as the doctor pulled the strip off her and examined it more closely.

"Helen, I can't imagine what loosing your parents must have been like for you." Chris told her, placing his hand on top of hers. "I know I can't do anything to bring them back, or ease the pain you must be feeling." A smile parted his lips. "But I'm guessing this might come close." He turned to look back at Alicia. The medical scientist had opened her case and was rummaging around inside it for an item. "Well, is she…"

"Perfectly suitable for the attempt? Yes." She replied, standing back up with something in her hand. Helen stared at it. It resembled a watch, with a central round device attached to a twist width strap. "Since she was born without the ability to walk, her nervous systems is undamaged and simply need a little prompting." She walked back over. "Put this on." The Doctor handed the device to Helen, who stared at in her hand with a confused look on her face.

The girl glanced up for explanation from the others. They were all waiting in anticipation for her to do something.

Slowly at first, Helen placed the device on her left wrist and attached it with the strap.

"Is…is this…" She began suddenly filled with wonder as the notion flew into her head. The smile on Chris' face refused to leave. Helen glanced down at the device and upon the flat stop were a series of buttons.

A lump formed in her throat. The last thing she wanted to do now was raise her own shattered hopes.

She pressed the first button and then slumped back into her chair as she felt a sudden almost painful tingle passed from the back of her neck and down her spine. The muscles on her legs twitched as signals from her brain were suddenly sent down and for the first time Helen felt strength in them.

Eventually the twitching subsided and she was felt sitting there looking daunted. Francis had her mouth hung open in anticipation and Danny's eyes were alight with curiosity. Chris just stood there looking unsure.

Inch by inch, Helen pushed herself up from the chair and taking a risk, she tried to balance on her two feet. Instead of loosing balance and falling over, unable to support her legs unable to support her own weight; she remained rigid and upright.

She looked down at herself, standing upright for the first time in her entire life. The sight, the sensation, the feeling of strength in her legs; it was more wonderful than she had ever dared to imagine.

Tears began to form in her eyes.

"What I tell ya?" Sera asked with her wide grin refusing to leave.

Turning towards Chris, Helen smiled for the first time in weeks. She moved towards him, stumbling at first as she was so unused even walking, she reached him and gripped him in the tightest hug she could possible imagine. Tears flowed from her, tears she had all but forbidden herself from allowing, soaking the shirt on his shoulder.

All bent up emotions she had bottling were released in one focused burst and she cried like she had never cried before.

Unable to do anything more, Chris up put his arms around her as well.


	21. Episode 11, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!

Episode 11: Challenge of Talos

* * *

It was hard, simply watching them. The longing to be part of that group again was near overwhelming but Miles held himself back. 

Instead he watched them from afar and waited.

The waiting was agonizing.

He needed their help and detested having to conceal himself in the shadows until the time was right.

He understood the need for it, but he did not have to like it.

For now, he was forced to be content with the simple joy he experienced from watching as Helen was granted the ability to stand on her own two feet.

"Your friend was born without the ability to walk." Doctor Alicia explained. "There wasn't any damage to her nervous system. It simply didn't kick in when she was born. Giving it the jump start it needs is an easy task for a neuron-regenerator. It stimulates the nerve endings and connections, prompting them to go back to their…" She trailed off when it became clear that no one was listening.

Helen was still crying; refusing to let go of Chris despite the fact she had her own two legs to stand on.

Everyone was crowded around them, forming an excited circle of close friends. Alicia decided it was not her place to break this joyous little moment.

Helen's emotions were a tangled mix. She felt intense confusion, joy and grief burned into one whole. All pent up emotion she had been repressing for days was being released and now it was fully aroused she could not steam the flow of tears running down her cheeks.

She was so unused to walking that her muscles twitched of their own accord now and then causing her to loose her balance.

"That will pass with regular exercise." Alicia told her, butting in through the excited whisper of conversation amongst the others. "The Regenerator was developed by Federation scientists about three hundred years ago in the fifth campaign against the Confederation Imperial army, to help soldiers who lost the use of their limbs or had suffered nervous system damage return to fight on the front lines." She pointed to the watch like device on Helen's wrist. "You'll have to wear this for some time. Continued use of this will eventually prompt your nerves to work on their own, but you'll drain the battery if you keep it on while you sleep so use it only when you need to."

"I … I…" Was all Helen could say with tears still in her eyes. Alicia just smiled.

"Don't thank me; it was Chris here who approached me with the request." Almost involuntarily Helen tightened her grip on him. "Why don't you take her for a walk through the depot, test those muscles out?" Taking Chris' hand Helen staggered forward, step after step.

* * *

- 

Omega sat alone in one of the hanger bays of the Blue Typhoon. He'd been there for days now. Being a machine, he had no need to commit himself to social interaction with his allies. It was enough that he was there when needed in battle.

Instead, he simply spent his time conserving his energy and running through various data files contained within his electronic mind. A lot of data had been complied and it needed sorting through.

Firstly, the current situation demanded he dedicated as much power to resolving the problems they all faced before anything else.

Thus far, all he knew for certain was that Doctor Eggman had betrayed the G.U.N coalition for control of Earth and a place with the Confederation's elite. They had encountered the Doctor, here on Chimera now the Confederations representative and overseer for the Ex Galactic Grand Prix.

Judging by what character information Omega had about his creator, and new evidence provided by Sonic that Chaos Emeralds were scattered around various planets; it seemed unlikely that Eggman's intentions were innocent.

They rarely were.

His sensors registered the ramp leading to the depot outside was being lowered. His rectangular head glanced up to watch as the Diablon Mech marched onboard. It strode up inside, positioned its giant like body against the side of the wall and then knelt down onto one knee; the blue glow from its eyes dying down as its massive wings folded either side.

The cockpit of the mech did not open. The battle machine remained still and there was no sign of any attempt for the pilot to exit.

Omega hoisted himself up on his small legs and turned to make for the machine.

"I wouldn't." A voice began. Omega's head rotated around 18- degrees to stare at Rouge standing behind him. She had one hand on her hip and her legs at a slant, a small smile spread across her face as she gazed up at the Diablon. "Okida and Topaz are just having some… alone time." E123 did not know precisely what she meant by that as he hadn't the data, but decided not to inquire as logic told him it was not overly imperative he should know.

Rouge simply watched the Diablon and wondered briefly what was going on inside. When her imagining turned a little bit naughty she suppressed a wider grin and turned away.

Topaz would deny it to the end of time but it was already plainly obvious to everyone, even total strangers, that she held deep affection for the vampire bat. Rouge had watched the two of them from the very moment they started working together as colleges then became friends, then best friends and now finally…

Rouge had to silence more provocative thoughts running through her mind.

When she had first met Topaz, the two of them hadn't got on at all. In fact Topaz had been prepared to blow Rouge up if the she-bat so much as set a foot out of line. True that hadn't been the best of starts but now Topaz and herself was very good friends.

And Rouge wished her the best of luck with her new relationship.

With a loud revving of an engine, a car came swerving up the ramp; coming to a halt directly next to the Diablon.

It was one of those vehicles the streets of Metal City were full of. It was shaped like a car but lacked wheels, seemingly hovering above the surface. It was completely blood red with a custom painted bolt of golden lightning down the side across the doors. The coverable roof peeled back exposing the driver.

"Hey there." Sam Speed remarked, letting his sunglasses tilt down his nose. "Whatya think?"

"Did you spend Darion's credits on that?" Rouge asked, looking the vehicle over sceptically.

"Just the last two thousand." He replied, leaning on the side with a superior smirk on his face. "Conejo... latest model." Sam ran his hand across the stylish dashboard. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"If you're into cars, sure."

Elsewhere, Sonic was beginning to regret giving in to Wave's request to see their ship. The swallow turned out to be a bigger techno-geek than Chuck and Tails put together.

Seeing the outside of the Typhoon had been enough to spark her interest, but allowing her inside was a big mistake. She was everywhere, getting into anything electronic she could find; examining it down to the last screw and wire commenting at length on the mechanics used to put it together.

When she saw the core of the ship she nearly had a heart attack at the sight of it. Knuckles had removed the Master Emerald as he did not trust her enough to let a Babylon Rogue know it was here. If they were after Chaos Emeralds then he wasn't going to be taking any chances with the Master Emerald.

"Well at least Tails' baby impressed somebody." Chuck remarked as the tour ended on the bridge.

"Impressed? Of course I'm impressed." Wave replied over her shoulder, gazing over the controls of the bridge. "You guys came from a pre-space travel world and you managed to build this? Its not the best ship out there but for first timers it's a huge accomplishment." She traced her fingers along the helm control in front of her, marvelling at the electronics.

"Why are you giving her a guided tour Sonic?" Amy asked, looking the swallow over contemptuously. Her tone instantly over the impression that she was intently annoyed that HER Sonic was anywhere near another girl. First Sera now this girl?

"Because she asked for one." The blue hedgehog replied, tipping his green tinted glasses off his forehead and over his eyes. She reply only seemed to make Amy even more annoyed. "Relax Amy, this is all part of my plan." He whispered to her, putting a hand against the side of his mouth to quieten himself.

"Plan?" She asked still maintain an angry expression. "What plan is this?"

"Eggman's up to something and I want to know what." He glanced back at Wave, who was too busy going over the many controls to even notice them. "She may be our best lead to finding out what." Amy's eyes darted from the blue hedgehog to the swallow and back again.

"And that's all?"

"Amy, I'm far too busy to start dating anyone right now."

"I know." With that she turned away, crossing her arms and sulking.

"While the ship consisted of hardware and technology we had on Earth, we weren't its overall designers." Chuck admitted.

"Oh?" Wave asked. "Then who was?"

"Eggman was one of them." Prof. Thorndyke carried on. "The other was Tails." The swallow raised an eyebrow, not recognising the name. "Old friend of ours. Practically put the ship together himself." His smile lessened at the memory.

"I find that hard to believe." Wave remarked, leaning back against the console. "This ship can't possibly have been created by a single person."

"That was Tails for you." Chuck sighed as he sunk into a seat, leaning his left arm back across it. "A mechanical genius, perhaps even on par with Doctor Eggman. With a little training and scholarship, he could have been even greater an inventor." Wave was silent for a moment as she glanced down at the floor.

"And where is this 'miracle worker' now?"

"I have no idea." Was the sharp reply. "He had something important to do and we didn't see him again after that." The silence that endured after that was near poisonous and someone had to break it.

"Attention all current tournament contestants…" Doctor Eggman's voice seemed to boom from the loud speakers dotted around the depot. "Please come to the Stadium for the final of the preliminary rounds. Races are to begin within ten minutes."

"Guess that means I'm up." Sonic sighed.

"Here." Wave picked up his Extreme Gear that was balanced on the side nearby. With a slight of hand trick, she attached a small device to the underside. It fitted into the grooves perfectly and was nearly invisible.

An undetectable attachment that would remain there for as long as she needed it to.

Jet had told her to do everything within her power to make sure Sonic stayed out of his way. She hated using such methods, but then Jet was the leader and had final say. Also he was right in one respect. Their mission was far too important to allow anything to interfere.

Although Wave had it in the back of her mind that all Jet was interested in with this was his own inflated ego.

She tossed the gear to Sonic who nimbly caught it, cupping it under his arm. He never even noticed the bomb.

* * *

- 

Chris had had surprisingly little time for relationships during the many trails and adventures he had experienced since Sonic had dropped down into his backyard pool. He supposed that was why he felt unsure of what to do in his current situation.

He was standing alone with Helen, the girl half balancing herself on his shoulder as they stared out together at the horizon just beyond the rim of wire fence encircling the depot

As Chris glanced down at the girl and could not but notice the tears. Her eyes and cheeks were rimmed red.

"Are you ok?" He asked. She did not reply. Instead she kept her gaze fixed on the sky of his new planet. He sighed and looked up at it with her. "Helen, I just want you to know that I want to help you. In any way I can…" She sniffed once and held his arms closer to herself.

Silence endured for another moment or two.

"Chris I don't know what to do. To feel." She eventually managed. "Should I feel happy for being able to walk, or terrible because I had to watch my mom and dad…" Her voice trailed of, loosing strength towards the end. "Everything I ever knew has been completely turned upside down, my world shattered; leaving me here.

And I don't know whether to be sad or happy about it."

Chris said nothing.

"Tell me what I should do…" She sniffed. The boy looked deep in thought for a moment.

"Walk." He told her, letting go of her and allowing Helen to stand on her own. He took a few steps away to a good distance and turned to face her. She looked up at him through confused, tear stained eyes. "Walk here, to me." He added.

She hesitated, before stumbling forward. She was still unused to having the use of her legs that keeping her balance was extremely difficult and she was tripping.

"I can't… its too difficult." She complained, trying to push herself up off the floor.

"Life with Sonic has taught me one thing if nothing else." Chris told her, taking another few steps back so she had longer to walk. "Nothing is ever too difficult." She tried to pick herself up but felt the twitch of nerves unused to working run down her muscles and fell down again. "Come on, get up." He said without much compassion in his voice.

"I can't Chris… I'm not strong enough."

"Well that's where we disagree." Was the sharp reply. Helen glanced up at him. "I say you ARE strong enough Helen, to do anything you want to do."

"But…" She started.

"Look Helen. I can't imagine what it must be like for you right now." He knelt down so he was at eye level with her. "I know you're dealing with some big issues and I'm going to be there to help you in any way I can." Chris offered his hand forward. "But I can't do that unless you stand up." She looked into his eyes.

There was a faith in them that hit her hard. He believed in her. He truly believed she could walk on her own, but beyond that he believed in her strength and ability to persevere.

"Mom… Dad…" She muttered under his breath, feeling a pang of grief spring up out of the overflowing well of emotions. She was only 16. She still needed them.

Why had they been taken away?

"Your parents were taken to the other side of the galaxy." Helen nearly shouted, looking up at him. "How can you be so cold to their plight?"

"I'm not being cold." Chris replied. "I know I'm going to see them again. I know I'm going to be there when the Doom's Eye's empire crumbles so I can bring them home."

"Well that's all very well for you… but mine are gone and I'm never going to see them again!" She cried out, fresh tears springing forth.

"I know." The reply came as a sigh. "And I don't expect you to ever forget them. But what I think you can do is get up and move forward."

"How?"

"Just walk to me first." He stood up and waited. Helen was silent as she knelt there, face angled towards the ground.

Then slowly she rose up until she was standing on her own two feet.

Step by step she moved forward towards him, occasionally stumbling but keeping her footing and balance.

Before two long she had cleared half the distance and then for a moment it looked like she was going to fall again, but as she stumbled she balanced herself on his hand and pushed herself back up.

Chris found himself smiling at the sight as she moved closer and closer towards him until finally Helen was standing directly before him.

She brushed the hair out of her eyes and looked at him. Despite the fresh tears in her eyes, she was smiling.

The expression on her face betrayed the presence of renewed hope.

"Thank you…" She muttered, before falling forward onto his shoulder. Chris caught her and helped her up.

"Not a problem." He said, nuzzling her hair.

* * *

- 

The entire Stadium was clogged with people as those who could tried to get a look at the finals matches of the preliminary rounds. These were the last races to be held on Chimera. After that the tournament would move onto the next designated world for alternating courses and environments.

Sera, Cream, Amy and Fang had already taken up their seats in the front row. While none of them wanted the bounty hunter for company, the choice was either to bring him with them or leave him at the ship. From past experience the better option had to be not to let him out of anyone's sight for a moment.

"Anyone for snacks?" Hare asked as he, Danny and Francis clambered down the row of seats. The rabbit like mobian had a tray full of food in his arms.

"Am I allowed to eat?" Fang asked, glancing up from under the rim of his hat. Hare rolled his eyes and tossed him a sealed packet of potato-chip like things. "Don't look now but there's everyone favourite bad guy." They followed his gaze to see Eggman standing high above in another of his floating pods.

Amy just scowled.

"You know, you guys still haven't explained why you dislike Eggman that much. Meow." Sera announced with a raised eyebrow. "Fine, he's a general for the Confederation but you all act as if it's personal."

"It is." The pink hedgehog replied.

What she wouldn't give for five minutes good whacking time with her hammer on that blowhard…

"I haven't seen Chris for a while, isn't he coming?" Cream asked, looking up at Danny. The boy chuckled under his breath holding a fist in front of her mouth.

"I think Chris'll be too busy to see it." Francis replied with a loop sided grin.

"That's not like Chris." Amy muttered. "What's he doing?"

"Taking social interaction lesson." Danny stated and Francis had to stifle a giggle of her own. The pink hedgehog stared back at them with a confused expression and a raised eyebrow.

"Good evening." A voice began. Recognising it, Sera glanced up to see the Lieutenant General standing there at the side of their seats, his arms crossed behind his back.

"MEOW! What are you back here for?" She demanded, her tail suddenly going rigid and her feline ears erect. "I don't need a military escort to follow me everywhere!"

"I'm not here for you." Darion remarked, swashing his long scaly tail back and forth behind him. "This is other official business I have to take care of." The lizard glanced up along the stands as if trying to sight someone within the crowds. "Piranha is here somewhere."

"Piranha?" Hare asked. "You mean that guy I heard on the radio?" Darion nodded.

"He's the DJ for a pirate radio station not just on Chimera but for several other planets within Com-Fed and Merchant Kingdom territory. Recently he's been broadcasting the tournament events illegally over his pirate signals.

My superiors have tolerated him up until now but this was the last straw." Cream thought back to the man she had seen beside her before, the one with the gills and the device strapped to his shoulder and how he had made a run for it when the guards saw him.

She decided to say nothing.

From the overlooking V.I.P box, Jet watched the crowds below. He had already passed his final preliminary around and usually the events of the other contestants, even fellow Babylon Rogues held little interest for him.

Yet this time he had made an acceptation.

Throwing other obligations aside, Jet was not going to let anyone stand in his way of claiming the title 'fastest-thing-alive.'

Sonic stood in the way.

He couldn't allow that.

He looked back at the neon blue box placed upon the deck behind him.

No… he could not allow that at all.

"Did you place the detonator?" He asked without looking as Wave emerged from the shadows.

"Sure I did." She replied, leaning back against the wall with a short smile. "Although it sounds a lot like cheating to me." Jet scowled angrily. "I thought you were so confident in your abilities that you didn't need to cheat?"

"I am confident." The hawk snapped putting emphasis on each word. "And I don't cheat." He turned to look back down the stadium. Preparations for the race were nearly complete. "I just don't want that hedgehog to interfere with the importance stuff, that's all."

"You won't be needing any tricks to deal with blue boy Jet." Storm lumbered into view, stretching his large wings out side. "Even if he passes this next match he has to face me on the race track. I'll stop him for you."

"Sonic could race circles around you on his feet, never mind with an Extreme Gear." Wave laughed and the albatross growled at her angrily.

"Enough." Jet snapped before the argument could progress any further. "This tournament is just a cover, don't forget that."

"I was about to tell you the same thing, oh glorious leader." Wave replied giving him a side glance.

"That bomb gets blown only if Sonic becomes a threat to our plans." Jet insisted. "If not, then we won't need it. It's simply a precaution."

The swallow looked away, not looking convinced. "I don't cheat Wave, got me?" She glanced back for a moment. "I… don't…. cheat…" Each word was spoken with intended force.

"Not unless absolutely necessary." She muttered under her breath.

"Welcome, all racing enthusiasts to the final rounds to be held here on Chimera." Doctor Eggman declared suddenly with a microphone in one hand. Jet turned around to face the interior of the stadium as the race was about to being. The crowd roared in response to the declaration. "Well let's not waste any time and get straight onto the main event shall we?

In this corner, from the Planet Earth; the renowned blue blur, you all know him, Sonic the Hedgehog." The blue hedgehog appeared, walking through a side door to the stadium floor. Once in the open he stopped and waved to the crowd as his name was chanted by the masses in the stadium seats. Streamers and balloons were aloft in the air as he approached the starting line. Blimps in the air above had digital signs on them with various advertisements from the sponsors of the tournament. Most of them were companies for interstellar shipping.

Jet still could not believe a creature without wings could be so fast. The time would soon come when he would prove that not only where Falcon's the fastest species. That he was the fastest of them all.

"And his opponent, from the planet Hydra, reigning regional champion; Talos!" Down on the stadium floor, Sonic glanced up as another figure emerged from the far side of the stadium.

His opponent had a slim, reptilian body with brown scales and large yellow eyes. The limbs long with a large tail balancing out the extra weight. A horn stood out on the end of his snout and he had a frill, making him look like a humanoid dinosaur. He was a Rigcarical, one of the Lieutenant General's species.

Now that Sonic thought about it, these reptilian people had a similar anatomy to Fesonians. Perhaps the two races were related in someway?

Judging how big an adult of his species such as Darion got, Sonic's opponent Talos was probably very young. He was only slightly taller than the hedgehog and hadn't a very wide shoulder span.

"I've heard a lot about you." The reptilian stated, looking the hedgehog over. There was a moment of silence between them, before Talos bowed in a display of respect. "It is a great honour to compete against the Destroyer of the Destroyer."

"Er… thanks." Sonic replied looking slightly taken aback.

"This race will be through the backstreets of Metal City before entering my newly built Circus Park." Eggman declared as the course for this race was put up onto the large screen over the Stadium seats.

"To all those watching consider this a taste of the fun you can enjoy once the park opens for business new month after the preliminaries are over." The roar of the crowd was almost deafening as the two racers stood side by side on the starting line.

"A regional Champion?" Fang asked with minimal interest.

"Meow. Talos is the best Extreme Racer from his home planet Hydra." Sera replied. "He and his sister have competed in tournaments held on several planets. But this is the first time either of them had been in an interstellar competition though. Meow."

"The first to navigate the park and the many surprises I placed within and make it back to the Stadium is the winner." The Doctor carried on. "Stay on the marked course, but apart from that; anything goes in this extreme race."

"Family pride is at stake so I have no intention of loosing here this day." Talos remarked to the hedgehog giving him a side glance. Sonic smiled up at him.

"Neither do I." He replied giving his opponent a thumb's up.

"Racers, to your starting positions!"


	22. Episode 11, part 2

"On your marks!" Eggman declared, holding the flag high in the air. "Get set." Muscles tensed down the blue hedgehog's legs. "GO!"

Sonic took the lead first, using his spinning technique to gain a head start off the starting line. Talos was close behind, sliding forward with the movements of a sidewinder snake as they shot forwards towards the exit out of the stadium. The crowds cheered that were gathered outside cheered them on, thick row upon row of people waving and chanting at the two of them as they shot down the marked course.

Traffic cleared off the Metal City roads; the racers were left with a wide berth to perform tricks and acrobatics stunts.

Neither of them tried to pass one another while they coursed through the city. Instead they performed various techniques and tricks in an attempt to impress both the crowds and one another.

Sonic could see that Talos' strength came from the ability to balance himself. His tail equalled the weight of his longer arms and his delicate balance translated well into his ability to use Extreme Gear. By controlling which way his weight tilted he was able to speed up or slow down without having to exert himself.

Sonic, having a more streamlined body than him was able to slide through the air as if the friction wasn't a factor.

After evaluating each others strengths and weaknesses for long enough the two of them coursed down Metal City's main street. Looming up at them on the horizon was the entrance to Eggman's theme park.

"They've now cleared the city run and are about to enter my new Circus Park." Doctor Eggman commented, watching events fold out on screen. "Keep in mind folks that for the duration of this race my park has been laid with booby traps and other surprises to keep our competitors on their toes."

Flying through the arch that resembled a clown version of Eggman's face, Sonic glanced around at the park. It appeared to be little more than a circus based theme park. There were rides, stands and even a very large shooting gallery. Many of the Doctor's robots were up on stages ever couple of hundred meters, performing amusing tricks such as juggling or balancing on a large ball.

Without warning, one of the performing robots turned to face the blue hedgehog was he shot past. While balancing on one foot on top of a large ball, the machine tossed one of the balls it was juggling directly at the racers.

Sonic had the sense to recognise a bomb when he saw one and swerved to the side. Not recognising the danger, Talos kept on going and went straight into the path of the explosive. The ball detonated in a large spray of fire that caught the reptilian off guard, forcing him to try and turn.

Sonic kept going, looking back over his shoulder to see what had become of his opponent.

Talos came flying out of the cloud of smoke looking unfazed but annoyed. Sparks were trailing from his gear were it had taken some damage, but the board did not loose any of its speed.

The park was adorn with neon lights and the course lead sharply up through an alley lit with them before turning to lead directly up onto the track of a roller coaster.

Talos passed Sonic by grinding along the lights with the surface of his board and went on first.

"The racers have made it onto my latest ride, the Rippin' Roller Coaster." Eggman said with a large grin spreading under his moustache. "They got past the Bombardier of Doom but can they survive the Track of Disaster?"

With no room to attempt a pass, Sonic was forced to be in second place just behind Talos as they soared higher and higher heading towards the climax of the ride, the tallest part of the whole track.

As they neared the top, the tracks came together and there were two running side by side. Taking the opportunity, Sonic back-flipped onto the new track and tried to take first place. Almost at once he wished he hadn't as a collection of coaster cars was coming up the track towards him. Sitting in each one were more of Eggman's Eggpawn robots, each of them armed with a nasty looking laser rifle. Those in the front seats took aim at Sonic while the others turned towards Talos.

The reptilian ducked under the intense barrage of fire but Sonic, who was right in the way of the oncoming cars had to back off in order to avoid being hit. Finally he was forced to switch back to the first track to avoid being run over.

The surprises on the roller coaster were not either yet thought. Mounted laser turrets rose out of concealed compartments along the length of the track and it took intense acrobatics from both racers in order to avoid being hit.

"Lieutenant General, we've got a lock on a pirate broadcast signal." One of Darion's subordinates told him. The reptilian blinked and looked back; having been concentrating more on the race than the actual reason he was here. "It's coming from inside the Stadium again."

"Then Piranha's here. Spread out, search the crowds." Darion replied. "Just find that DJ!"

Finally the roller coaster slopped down and the course carried on off it back down to the park floor. Every time they passed a show, the robots would stop in their performances to throw bombs at them again.

Apparently the crowds loved this twist and were crying out for more.

"With Talos in the lead, Sonic's going to need to pick up his act if he doesn't want to be eliminated. And not just from the tournrnament." The doctor announced, looking very pleased at the blue hedgehog's situation. "With only two more traps to go before they exit the park, it's time to kick things up a notch as they head through the House of Mirrors!"

A large big top tent with its entrance pulled open lay directly down the course. Talos fly in first, vanishing from sight. Sonic was quick to follow, sliding through the entrance with a thrown bomb exploding just behind him.

"What the…" He cried out, coming to a sudden halt. All around were mirrors. Tall ones, short ones and ones that made him look incredibly fat. All he could see all around him was his reflection.

He felt around, trying to find a way through but there was nothing, no way to go anywhere.

Yet there had to be, Talos had gotten through hadn't he?

Eventually, Sonic found that one of the mirrors looked different than the others. His reflection, while exactly like all the others, appeared to be made up of tiny squares of colour like a computer image. He put his hand against it and his fingers passed right thought.

A hologram.

Flying through, Sonic found a corridor lined with mirrors on each side that lead through the tent. This doubled his reflection more times than countable so it looked like an army of hedgehogs were moving along in a row.

Without warning, a trapdoor in the ceiling opened up and a wrecking ball on a chain came swinging down, large diamond tipped spikes covering its surface.

Sonic only just managed to dodge before it shot past him and smashed into the mirrors just behind shattering the surface to pieces.

More trapdoors opened and over half a dozen more traps came swinging down in an attempt to either, crush, impale or horribly injury the hedgehog.

Sliding around a corner, Sonic finally caught sight of Talos. The reptilian was just ahead, and he wasn't looking up, which meant that he could not see the huge weight preparing to drop down on him.

The hedgehog threw his weight forward and sped on, coming alongside Talos and grabbing his arm, pulling him forward with him and out of the way. The weight crashed down with tremendous force, destroying the floor below it.

Together, the two of them emerged out of the tent and back onto the course.

"I thank you." The reptilian announced.

"As they head towards the final trial my park has to offer, Talos and Sonic are neck and neck." The Doctor proclaimed and the crowds went wild. "But all that could change very soon. They still have one more trap to traverse before they make it out of my park. Can they survive; the Ghost Train?"

"Eggman, you have one sick mind." Sonic commented at the sight of what awaited them.

There was another ride on a track, this one leading through a tunnel and into a rickety looking old, tall wooden house. Several EggPawn robots were standing on the roof with white sheets draped over them in an attempt to make themselves look like ghosts. The races shot through the entrance first, sliding through fake cobwebs and into the darkness.

The air was full of ghostly moans and shrieks as they coursed through the darkness, the only illumination coming from the glow their Gear's emitted.

Now and then a robot arm made to look like a skeletal limb would reach out to try and grab them. They were easily avoided, as were the sheet covered EggPawn's on strings that flew down every so often.

"Kiddie stuff Eggman; don't you have anything better than this?" Sonic yelled out as he kept going.

"As a matter of fact…" The Doctor muttered under his breath, pressing a concealed button on his wrist watch.

A wall the racers past burst open. Sonic glanced back to see several arched mechanical legs come folding out. A large mechanical spider the size of a car lumbered into the tunnel, snapping a pair of serrated pincers.

With a high pitched screech it shot forward, scuttling over the walls and ceiling as it charged at them.

Two laser turrets on its back rotated around and fired as it went. Talos' board was struck on the underside, causing the reptilian to tip forward suddenly throwing on a burst of speed.

And if this wasn't bad enough, up ahead two suits of armour pushed themselves off from the wall and drew their swords.

Talos ducked down under the swings as he went and Sonic pulled his board up, twisting through the air going over them.

The spider crashed directly into the suits of armour, the three robots tangling themselves and crashing into a large heap on the floor together.

Flying out the end of the Ghost Train ride, Sonic and Talos served down the course as it lead through the exit of the Circus Park and back into the streets of Metal City.

"It's the home stretch and both Racers are giving it their all." Eggman declared, leaning over the side of his hover craft as Sonic and Talos came within sight of the Stadium. "Who will get here first, we're all just going to have to wait and see!"

"MEOW! Come on Sonic, go for it!" Sera called out, leaning over the side of the rail; her voice echoed by Amy and Cream and hundreds of others in the stadium.

Talos came into the Stadium first, pushing his weight forward as far as it would go in a desperate attempt to pass the finishing line.

Sonic came souring in afterwards almost right on his tail.

When it looked like the hedgehog might loose, Sonic brought his foot down sharply on the front of his Rengoku gear and the action caused the entire board to spinning forward. The extra speed forced him past Talos and across the finishing line, scrapping through the dirt sending a cloud of dust flying up into the air.

"And we have a winner!" The crowd roared in response as Sonic stood up straight, dirt clinging to his quills.

Talos jammed his foot into the ground coming to a stop himself.

"Sorry pal, this one's mine." The blue hedgehog grinned. Talos simply flipped his Extreme Gear up and held it under his arm.

The reptilian bowed low.

"It was an honour to race you." He said.

Having seen enough, Jet turned away and left Sonic to his brief moment of victory.

"I think you're worried." Wave remarked."

"Worried?" Jet asked, pouring himself a drink.

"Worried there might actually be someone who can beat you."

Amy and the others, accept Fang, jumped over the side of the rail and ran up to Sonic who was still basking in the appreciation of his now galaxy wide fans.

"What did you expect?" He asked. "Well, this guy did ok too I guess."

Talos suddenly grimaced and backed off several steps, his gaze fixed off towards the stands. "Hey dude, what's the matter?" Sonic asked, following his gaze.

Walking towards them was a girl. For a moment Sonic thought she was another Riggarical but as she got closer other features became apparent.

The girl did not appear to be completely reptilian. Like Sera she was a half breed, mostly human with various features of the other species. She had scales along her arms and a thin lizard like tail. Apart from that, the human part of her makeup seemed to be dominant. Her skin was tanned brown, clearly not her natural colour but the result of much time spent in the sun.

She had strange dark green hair tied back behind her head into a short ponytail. Her yellow eyes alight with frustration and annoyance.

Her clothes were loose fitting pants and top much in the fashion here with Chimera's intense heat. Another top had been taken off and the sleeves tied around her waist in a fashion similar to that on the Earth.

"Hi sis what's…" Talos began nervously but he trailed off seeing the murderous look on her eyes.

"Don't you 'hi sis' me!" She snapped almost spitting in his face. Talos backed off, looking apprehensive as she snapped at him. "You lost in the preliminaries! You utter disgrace! How could you bring dishonour to the family like this?"

"There's no shame in loosing Hypermnestra."

"My name is Hyper, not that tangled mouthful!" She hissed, showing her razor sharp teeth.

"Yes sis, whatever you say."

"You just wait until you get back home, I'll make sure you'll be arriving back in disgrace!" She grimaced and placed her hands on her hips. "Must I do everything myself? Now I'll have to win the whole tournament just to make up for your failure!"

Sonic and Knuckles exchanged worried glances.

"And as for you…" She spun around to face the blue hedgehog, a fire of anger burning behind her eyes. "**_Destroyer of the Destroyer_** doesn't cut any ice with me! I'm not going to forget about this insult! You'll have to face me in the tournament at some point and when you do I'll make you wish you'd never been born!" Talos just shrugged behind her, making an apologetic face.

"This is your sister?" Sonic asked feeling sorry for him.

"This is Hypermnestra." He replied.

"Hyper, Hyper, its '_Hyper'_ for god's sake!" She shouted stamping her feet. If this was what siblings were like then Sonic was glad he didn't have any. He rolled his eyes and looked away.

It was then that reality seemed to vanish.

Standing there in the crowds, staring directly at him…. No…. it was impossible…wasn't it … Sonic simply stood there staring in disbelief. But he was right there….

A brief smile passed over that face and kind sea blue eyes filled with regret.

Sonic reached out as if trying to grab hold of something before this illusion shattered as it had to.

Someone walked in front of him and he vanished as suddenly as he appeared.

"Amy, catch." Sonic declared; tossing the pink hedgehog is Rengoku. Before she could argue, Sonic sped off leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.

"Hey get back you!" Hyper called after him angrily.

Flying past startled people, he shot into the stands desperately searching for sight of what he had seen.

There was nothing there, nothing at all.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a flash of orange. Glancing around he watched the tip of a tail vanish around a corner leading out of the Stadium.

"Wait!" He called out, racing after it.

By the time he reached the corner whatever had been there was gone. There was simply one of the corridors leading from the stands to the outside.

But he could hear running footsteps from the far end.

Nearly flying out the end Sonic ended up spinning out into an empty street. Again the blue hedgehog caught sight of a busy tail end vanishing down an alleyway. "Please wait!" Reaching the ally, Sonic found it empty. His raised hopes dashed, Sonic let his shoulders drop.

He could have sworn.

But perhaps he had just been making himself hopeful.

Perhaps he had been so desperate to think it he had imagined the entire….

Hearing a loud clanking sound the blue hedgehog glanced up. Rolling towards him was a short, round metal disc. It stopped at his foot and clattered to its side.

Mouth hung open, Sonic simply stared at it.

Printed on the top of his disc was an icon. Two fox like tails placed against a blue background.

This was the icon Tails placed on his inventions.

Slowly Sonic reached down and picked it up. Turning it over he saw that words were engraved in the metal.

"See you when I see you…" The blue hedgehog breathed reading them. His arms hung low.

* * *

-

"Well?" Darion asked after the search of the Stadium had been completed.

"Sorry sir, we searched this place from top to bottom." One of his men replied. "Not a sign of Piranha or any of his equipment." The Lieutenant General sighed and relaxed his shoulders.

"Well the preliminaries are over so that means Piranha will go where the tournament goes. It's not our problem anymore." He smiled evilly. "We'll just let those Merchant Kingdom Armatures deal with it."

Exactly what Eggman planned to do when he got his hands on all seven Chaos Emeralds was hard to say as Wave could never be sure of the man's disposition. Whether he kept his word or not was still up in the air. Either way Wave determined it was probably in her best interests to keep an eye on the Doctor.

"Hey there blue." She called out, seeing Sonic trudge in the opposite direction. The hedgehog looked aimless as if lost in thought so much he wasn't even paying attention to where he was going. "Something wrong?" She asked, walking up alongside him.

Sonic blinked and suddenly looked attentive, finally noticing that he had company.

"Oh er… its nothing." He replied, pushing the disc into his glove out of sight. The sky above them was full of ships. Dozens taking off from the planets surface at one time, a steady stream of traffic heading up towards the space stations in orbit. "Hey where is everybody going?" He asked.

"To the next planet the tournament is being held on." Wave replied as the two of them walked out the street and towards the entrance of the depots. Technicians were running around like crazy trying to get everything ready for the ships departing.

"Next planet?" Sonic repeated.

"Yeah, only the preliminaries were going to be held here." Wave shot him a sceptically glance. "You weren't even aware of that?" Sonic ran his fingers through his quills. He did remember hearing that somewhere.

"Sorry, I… I had a lot on my mind." Wave sighed and folded her arms in front herself. "So, where's the next phase of the tournament?" He asked.

"Planet Fenrir." The swallow replied glancing up towards the sky and jabbing a finger in the direction of what Sonic presumed was the planet in question. "It's in Merchant Kingdom Territory. The racers are being held in the planet's capital, the city of Water: Soleanna."

"Soleanna?"

"Look it up blue boy, I'm not handing you a map." The swallow remarked callously putting her hands on her hips. "You know, it would actually be in my best interests if you didn't get there at all."

"Then why are you telling me this?" She smiled at him.

"What can I say? I've got a soft spot for…" She looked him over and stepped closer. Her hands coming dangerously close to his chest. "…handsome, masculine, underdogs such as yourself." Sonic tried to back off but she caught his waist and pulled herself close, staring deep into his eyes.

Someone cleared their throat and Wave glanced around to see Jet and Storm standing in the depot entrance glaring at her, plain disapproval their leaders face.

Wave feigned a disappointed look before walking away.

"See you there blue boy." She sighed back over her shoulder blowing a kiss. Jet watched her walk past him, before gazing back at Sonic.

"You'd better be there hedgehog." The hawk spat, before following both Storm and Wave as they melded into the crowds and disappeared. Sonic stood there for a moment before relaxing his shoulders and sighing out load.

Turning, he almost walked directly into Amy. She was standing there with a sour expression on her face.

"Just an informant is she?" The pink hedgehog asked through clenched teeth. She had seen Wave coming close to something she had worked half her life to attain.

Sonic hesitated suddenly looking panic-stricken.

"What? No I…"

"I saw it all miss." Another voice stated. Sonic glanced around to see Talos' sister, the vengeful Hyper standing there with a sadistic smirk over her face. "He was warming up to that bird real well. In fact, I'd say they were a step away from making out." The expression on Amy's face turned into the equivalent of a thunderstorm.

With a flick of her wrist, the hilt of her war hammer appeared between the pink hedgehog's fingers.

"Amy wait!" Ignoring him she advanced closer and loosing his nerve Sonic broke into a run with the pink hedgehog close behind him.

Hyper's grin widened from ear to ear.

* * *

-

The reptilian race that called planet Hydra their home had nothing to stop the space colony emerging from its jump or to stop it reigning supreme in orbit. The jump engine installed aboard the ARK had taken a great deal of energy in order to move the colony this far and the burn out had caused considerable damage. It needed repairing before it could be used again.

Given that time Shadow teleported down to the planets surface to do some investigating.

Emerging out of Chaos Control, the hedgehog was met with a harsh wind and spitting rain.

A howl tore through the air around him as the dark clouds above sparked and thundered, flashes of blue lightning spreading through the abyss like rolling sea serpents. Holding up his forearm to shield his eyes, Shadow pushed forward.

The entire planet appeared to be swamp like with the only inhabitable continent in the north. The coordinates placed inside the ARK's central computer told him that the proof Black Doom wanted him to see about his powers lay within a cluster of ruins on the southern continent.

Pushing his way through the howling winds and rain that whipped at him like lashes, Shadow could see the outline of those ruins from where he was; towering, but crumbling, stone structures that lanced out of the swamp encircling him.

This trip had taken him an unthinkable distance from Earth. If whatever was here was not very impressive Shadow was not going to be pleased.

Passing down between two large dead trees, Shadow felt the rain leave off. He glanced dup, seeing a roof of engraved stone above him held rigid between the tree trunks. The howling and cold wind continued, but the relief from the spitting rain was enough to be thankful for.

The hedgehog clicked his fingers and a spark of golden energy burned above his open palm, lighting the way through the darkness, the only other illumination coming from momentary flashes of light from the lightning.

He glanced to his left, seeing that against the trees leading on were two walls joined to the ceiling to create an ancient corridor. Murals were graved along the side of each, most of them being runes and glyphs that Shadow could not recognise.

The ruins were a maze, riddled with creeper plants, waterlogged and half collapsed yet somehow Shadow found his way through.

Eventually the murals began showing pictures like ancient hieroglyphics. Each picture seemed to be a part of a series telling a story.

Shadow tried to decipher them but it was difficult as some of their meanings of events he did not understand.

"Just what do you want me to see here?" He asked out load. He stopped suddenly when he came to a familiar image. Three eyes, the middle one larger than the others with a reptilian silt down the middle for a pupil.

The very image of Black Doom's face.

Shadow leaned forward to examine the images more closely.

If he understood this correctly then Black Doom had been considered a god at some point by some ancient civilisation, presumably the people who constructed the ruin. These images left little evidence for anything else for Black Doom always depicted with reverence.

They showed him being praised by for heroic deeds such as dethroning a barbaric king and then spreading his empire in aid of the oppressed.

Here evidentially was the proof Black Doom had wished Shadow to see.

The murals carried on telling their story showing that a dead child was brought before Black Doom, the parents pleading for its restoration. By using what looked like arcane sorcery, the child was restored to life.

Shadow stopped and stared at it.

If this was true, and Black Doom really could restored to life those who had died; then perhaps it was possible…. No, he refused to let himself gain false hope for something so unlikely. Not yet anyway.

As he carried on the story continued.

They showed that at its height, the civilisation that had left these ruins spanned almost the entire galaxy and they prospered under Black Doom as he was both their king and their god after disposing of the previous ruler, a mad man who treated his subjects like slaves.

While it seemed Black Doom could not, or perhaps would not, restore every one of his subjects to life, it appeared he revived enough to remain in good favour with them. Eventually however, or perhaps unavoidably, there was a rebellion and the kingdom he ruled erupted into a bloody civil war.

Shadow paused to behold the rebellions leader. It was a woman, draped in long flowing robes and holding a hand aloft as if she was casting spells. Her image here depicted her as a demonic witch, cackling evilly as she laid waste to countless planets.

Shadow was not fooled by this. This could merely be artistic licence by the sculptor meant to demonise their enemy. He very much doubted if this was literal truth.

Carrying on, the hedgehog watched the rest of the story unfold.

The rebellion came to a dramatic climax with one final battle, where Black Doom was deposed as leader and banished. The image were vague on how it occurred, but from what Shadow could decipher it appeared that not only was Black Doom banished from his kingdom, but the universe as well. The images were not clear on this point.

The image showed him disappearing through a doorway that led to nowhere.

After that, the rebellious queen and her followers began an exodus through a door of their own, vanishing out of the story.

Those left behind tried to rebuild their empire but without their god it proved impossible and eventually they died out and thus this very ruin came to being.

The murals abruptly ended as Shadow guessed there wasn't anyone left to make anymore. The final image showed that the failing civilisation had foretold the coming of a messiah, a champion meant to restore their grand empire.

"A saviour…" Shadow found himself muttered half contemptuously. Faced with the inevitable these people had turned to superstition for comfort and false hope. He paused…

Slowly, he looked up and then gasped out load and staggered backwards. The mural before him was unbelievable and for a moment it was so incredible he could not believe it was real.

The figure etched in stone was a hedgehog. His hands clasped around a spear as he charged into battle. Encircling his heroic figure were several sparking stars, with a larger eighth just above them.

If there was any doubt in Shadow's mind what this stone hedgehog symbolised, it melted away as he looked upon the stripes along the mural's quills.

This was the foretold coming of the Trigger of Devils.

"Chosen one…" Black Doom's words echoed within Shadow's memories as he repeated them. "The Devil's Trigger! Me?"

"Now do you understand?" Shadow glanced back as the transparent form of Black Doom's projected body began to emerge out of the ground, all three eyes glaring at him. "The devil's trigger, the catalyst for change, the saviour of souls from corruption.

My herald.

The prophesized hero anticipated by civilisations across the entire universe and through the depths of time."

"Me?" Shadow demanded.

"What did you imagine Gerald had in mind when he created you?" The black and red hedgehog fell silent, thoughts and confused emotions flowing through his head. "The Chaos Emeralds are the key Shadow. They are intertwined with the destiny of the Devil's Trigger.

With them you can bring forth either the Flames of Disaster or the Tide of Mercy." This was too much. Shadow had to turn away, unable to accept all of this so quickly. Had this really been what Gerald had intended for him? Had the defeat of Krish simply been the first step?

"All you need to do is bring me the Chaos Emeralds and I will finally be able to shed my bounds and correct all the mistakes made throughout history."

"You mean the rebellion?" Shadow asked. Black Doom nodded.

"You and I are on the same side Shadow. We both want the same thing. We both want peace."

"Peace?"

"Order restored to chaos, the emeralds finally put to the use they were created for and great injustice finally undone. All of your memories restored." Black Doom's form floated close. "And your adopted family returned to you." Shadow's eyes widened.

A deep longing burned within him. A wound that had never really healed; crying out for relief, to return to the past where the pain did not exist.

"And so I ask once more…" Black Doom's hand extended itself towards the hedgehog. "Will you join us?" Shadow slowly looked up, staring at the outreaching transparent hand.

"Yes." He stated calmly. "Yes I will."

"Then reach out your hand to me." Slowly the black hedgehog lifted his right arm and extended it towards him. Black Doom raised his left, holding the hand high in the air. The air around them suddenly sparked as if full of static electricity and Shadow fell some kind of pressure being applied onto his arm as if something were pushing down on it. "Be warned, should you accept these responsibilities there will be no going back."

"To give Maria a chance to breath again I would tear this entire universe to pieces." Shadow replied with hard eyes. "I accept." The two smaller eyes on Black Doom's face narrowed.

"Then let it be done." As if a hot iron had pressed itself into his skin, Shadow cried out; smoke suddenly rising from his arm. He collapsed to his knees, holding his forearm out as the scolding continued. "From this day forth you will branded with my mark, the icon of my kind so all will now your destiny and what your coming signifies." The mark forming on his fur was jagged shape with several curved spikes running down one side with another running vertically up on the other.

Finally the pain subsided. "Now arise."

Slowly shadow rose up; his eyes closed and remained silent. After a moment they opened slowly and the difference in them was clear at once. They were some how, colder, sharper and lacking even the tiniest hint of remorse.

"I wear your brand Black Doom." He spoke softly. "But I am not your servant."

"I would not expect you to be." Doom replied. "Now go… your first task awaits you on the planet of Fenrir in Merchant Kingdom territory. Find the traitor who betrayed my ranks, take whatever information he has and destroy him…" Shadow made moves to go. "Bring me the Chaos Emeralds. Release my kind from their prison and bring back order to a chaotic universe.

Do so, and your family will be restored. I can make it possible." The outline of the mark on Shadow's left forearmed glowed softly blood red. "Go forth, Iblis Trigger; my agent of death."


	23. Episode 12, part 1

(Note: I am aware that Shadow is not the REAL Iblis Trigger…Just bear with me on this.)

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!

Episode 12: The Defence of Chimera

* * *

- 

The technology used by the Combined Federation to propel ships across space was similar to that which kept the Typhoon running.

To leave a planets orbit, a normal combustion engine was used until the ship reached a space station in orbit. There the ship would refuel before leaving, using the recharge to power up its jump drive. Once powered up, the ship would leap across space to reach its designated destination.

The range of a jump was limited so ships were restricted to destinations within a certain radius of their current position.

The Typhoon operated along similar lines, although it bent the rules as it had a near never ending supply of power to call upon within the Master Emerald.

"I never thought we'd have to wait in line in a space ship." Hare remarked, his hand folded behind his head and his large feet up on the navigation control board in front of him. In orbit around planet Chimera, their ship was docked at one of the refuelling space stations. While their ship did not required refuelling like all the others alongside them it had to wait there until their designated departure time arrived. There were hundreds of ships waiting to leave Chimera orbit and interstellar traffic outside the station's perimeter was terrible.

"Just try to think of it as an ordinary traffic jam." Chuck replied, standing at the front of the bridge staring out at the steady stream of ships moving away from the planet's atmosphere. Once they were far enough away from other vessels they jumped; contracting in a short flash of light as they warped through to whatever was their destination.

The space station itself was wheel shaped, with a spire lancing down towards the planets surface. Around the outside edge were depots and service stations in which ships waited until they had flight clearance. The Typhoon's permission for departure was not expected for at least two hours and so the crew, whose population had now ballooned to over sixty, was taking the opportunity to explore the station.

Only Chuck and Hare had been left behind to look after the ship. Hare would have gone but he was still recovering the effect Chimera's intense heat had had on him. The rabbit hoped that the next planet they set foot on was cooler than this one.

"Chuck…" Hare began. The professor glanced back over his shoulder. "Don't you think we should be spending our time doing something more… I don't know… important?" Chuck raised an eyebrow in question. "I mean, shouldn't we be trying to find a way to get back to Earth? But all we seem to be doing is competing in a sporting event."

"Don't worry about it Hare, we've got a plan." Chuck assured him. "We know we can't battle right through Confederate lines to get back to Earth. Even with the repairs and upgrades, their fleet would tear us to shreds.

So Sonic's plan is to go in the backdoor.

We follow Eggman around through this tournament, find out what he's up to and get to those Chaos Emeralds before him." Hare looked intensely puzzled for the moment before the obvious clicked inside his head.

"I get it. With all seven Chaos Emeralds, along with the Master Emerald, Sonic can use Chaos Control to move us past the Confederate lines and back to Earth." Chuck nodded once.

"With all seven emeralds he could land us on the White House lawn if he wanted." Hare smiled, looking satisfied with the answer. Then something else occurred to him and he looked puzzled again.

"What I can't figure out now is why the Emeralds are here in the first place. Dark Oak took them, why dump them on planets around here and then fill us in on it?"

"I don't know what he's thinking." Chuck sighed. "Guess he had his reasons and I doubt we can trust them but whatever the cause the fact remains they are scattered on various planets and we have to find them before Eggman does."

"I'd help if we didn't have guys going AWOL on us." Hare muttered. Both the Chaotix guys and Metal Sonic had all up and left for whatever reasons.

Metal Sonic's was abundantly clearly. He wanted to find Dark Oak and tear his arms off.

As for Chaotix, Vector had left a note telling them not to worry and to look after Cream for him. Leaving no details as to what they were doing other than that it looked as if they weren't going to see any Chaotix members for a while.

"Departing space station, ETA arrival at Planet Fenrir 5.00.9 galactic standard time." Eggman leaned back into his seat as his ship made moves to leave. Since he was the overseer of the tournament it was imperative he reached the planet before the competitors did. This also gave him an opportunity to scan the planet for the location of any Chaos Emeralds.

"Eggman, this is Jet." The Doctor opened one eye as a holographic message appeared before him. "I just go resistance Intel that seven space-carriers have left your Egg Factory and are heading directly for Chimera."

"That's correct." Eggman replied. "My new production line within the factory is now complete and my newest Mech arsenals are ready for testing."

"On Chimera, that deep within Federation territory?"

"I thought it'd be an effective challenge for my machines." The hawk did not look impressed.

"You value your expertise too highly Doctor." Eggman grinned from ear to ear.

"Or maybe you don't value them enough." He pressed a button nearby and Jet's angry face disappeared. Almost immediately it was replaced with the round metallic face of Becoe.

"We've been detected by the Combine Federation forces Doctor. One of their battleships is moving to intercept." Eggman's smile did not disappear.

"Good, just as anticipated. Leave the carriers on auto pilot and return to the Egg Factory at once. Monitor the battle as it unfolds."

"Understood Doctor." The face disappeared. The doctor leaned back into his seat as the Egg Carrier moved away from the station.

He was most anxious to see how his latest robots fared in actual combat.

* * *

- 

"Even in space, waiting for a flight can take days." Chris remarked, looking down the long list of ships waiting for departure clearance. The Typhoon's name was right at the bottom. The station was filled with people in the same situation they were, all desperate to leave and get to Fenrir to see the next round of the tournament but were stuck here with the intense traffic.

"Ah quite complaining." Danny replied before taking a bite out of the burger like food he had bought from a stand nearby. "It's not everyday you get to hang out in a space station so enjoy it while you can."

"Yeah I guess." Chris sighed, relaxing his shoulders as he gazed out over the waiting area. In many ways it was almost exactly like an airport, with seating and dining areas on the floor below and large spaces for people to simply stand around. The list for departures and arrivals was displayed on a large electronic screen on a towering wall nearby. "Do you even know what you're eating?"

Danny wiped away the last of the yellow sauce from his mouth.

"The frog like guy selling them called it a…" He paused looking suddenly indecisive. "Actually I'm not sure how he pronounced it without a second tongue but whatever you call it, it still tasted pretty good." Suddenly there was a loud bleeping sound and a voice echoed out from station control.

"The Lance-Blade ship at dock 9 has been granted flight clearance. Will all passengers and personnel please report to docking bay 9?

I repeat; The Lance-Blade ship at dock…" A human in a silver uniform nearby rose from a table, slung a bag over his shoulder before hurrying off through the crowd.

"Still hard to believe there are humans out in the galaxy and not just on Earth." Danny said. "I thought we evolved on Earth."

"Guess not." Chris replied. "Perhaps we came to Earth like the Black Arms did, thousands of years ago, crashing landed our ship or something and…" He scratched the top of his head, trying to think of a similar comic book plot. "Forgot about were we came from?" Danny stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You took that plot device from science fiction didn't you?" Chris just shrugged.

"Closest analogy I could think of." Danny smiled and folded his arms over the rail along the edge of the second floor over the foyer.

"Well I guess that puts an end to the argument between evolutionists and creationists." Chris grinned in response.

"I think they'll find someway to carry on." He blinked and looked around "Say where are Helen and Francis? I thought they went off just to get some new clothes. It shouldn't take this long…"

"You haven't been clothes shopping with girls before have you?" Danny asked slyly. Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, we're back!" The two boys glanced back and then swung back and pressed themselves against the rail in surprise. Both Francis and Helen were there dressed in new outfits.

Francis had a tight fitting pair of lime green shorts with red and golden stripes up along the outside of the thighs. The top was the same colours and material and almost too revealing. Along her shoulders was a short jacket that ended halfway down her back, compensating for the lack underneath. A pale canvas scarf was tied back around her neck hanging between her shoulder blades.

Helen's own new outfit was similar. Only hers was a sea blue with white down the sides. Her top was less revealing than Francis' and her jacket top had its sleeves tied around her waist. She was blushing, trying not to meet Chris' eyes. Chris had to blink, still a little unused to seeing her standing without any help, but more to the fact that her outfit really brought out the best in her figure.

"Just where did you get those?" Danny asked.

"Sera showed this is great shop where they made you custom made clothes for practically nothing." Francis replied, twirling around to see them a 360 degree view. "Just measuring and 'poof', it's like they simply appear by magic." Helen said nothing but her blush depended every second Chris had his eyes on her.

"Yo, Earth to Chris…" Danny clicked his fingers several times in front of the teenagers face. Chris blinked, coming back to reality.

"Er… wha…what?"

"Enjoying the view?"

"What, I er… nothing… No, I just had something on my mind."

"I bet you did."

"Meow. Hi y'all." A voice added and Sera almost seemed to appear.

Like the other girls she had indulged herself with a new outfit. She had done away with her head bands, letting her hair flow loose; her cat like ears standing erect above her head and her tail swaying out behind her. Her new outfit was red mostly with golden outline, a short skirt and top. A pair of head phones hung around her neck, wires leading down to an mp3 player at her side; an item Francis had leant her.

"You as well?" Chris asked.

"Hey, I'm the gal with the Federation military budget at her finger tips. Meow." The cat girl replied, pushing down a pair of sunglasses of her eyes to the tip of her nose and casting him a sceptical glare. "What's the point of that if I can't treat my friends and myself to little shopping spree now and then?" She suddenly smiled, realizing what words she had inadvertently used.

"Something wrong?" Francis asked, glancing back.

"No nothing, I just…" She paused as she remembered how she had defined that special word before, only to have it smashed and torn away when she was betrayed.

The word, 'friend' to her, had meant nothing but a collection of leaches and yes-men.

Yet these guys had been prepared to accept her as a friend even before they knew who her father was.

Before she ran into them she wouldn't have even though a thing was possible for her. "Never mind; doesn't matter." She smiled. "So, when is our flight leavin'?"

"Not for at least another two hours." Chris replied. "Traffic around Chimera is terrible." A ship leaving one of the docks soured past the windows and elsewhere on the station a red Echidna suddenly felt the strength in his legs go as the inertia rocked him back and forth.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Knuckles stated, leaning on the side of the wall trying not to glance out the windows to see the planet outside.

"You are hopeless." Rouge remarked, glancing away in apparent disgust but hiding an amused grin at the same time.

"What's wrong with him?" Amy asked, walking over with a cup with a straw in her hand. Rouge giggled lightly and brushed some head fur out of her eyes.

"Space sickness I think." She replied. "Although how he caught it is beyond me, he's been into space before and hasn't acted like this." Knuckles was doubled over along the wall, trying to keep his stomach from wrenching.

"I am not space sick." She replied keeping his lips pressed together for fear if he opened them he would loose whatever had managed to eat. "I just made the mistake of eating the day's special…" He gestured over towards a restaurant nearby. A reptilian was selling bowls of something that looked like noodles in a bowl but were blood red to customers who happened in. "I don't think that kind of food is compatible with Echidna's."

"When I said you were hopeless I didn't know the half of it." Rouge sighed rolling her eyes and placing her hands on her hips.

"You try eating some…" Knuckles groaned.

"Yo, bowl of the special." Rouge called over and the reptilian tossed it through the air at her, the expert spin on the bowl keeping the contents inside. Rouge caught it in one hand. It looked like Chinese noodles, even with a pair of chopsticks at the standby.

The smell didn't warn her of anything wrong so she lifted some of the red noodles up and chewed on them. The taste was unusual with a strong spicy after bite.

"I don't see what's so bad about these." She remarked, looking at the crippled echidna sceptically. She suddenly smiled. "Maybe the guardian here just can't handle spicy food?"

"I grew up on roots, vegetables and the occasional piece of raw meat." He replied not looking her in the face. "Even with the occasional break, that's been my diet for the past near two decades."

"You need to vary your eating habits." She sighed. "I've seen Sonic eat a chocolate sauce pizza with vinegar soaked French fries with an ice cream Sunday for desert." Knuckles held a glove to his mouth and turned a shade of green. "And speaking of Sonic, just where is that hedgehog?"

"He said he wanted to be alone." Amy replied, glancing off out the window. "He looked pretty down when he left. He wouldn't tell me what the matter was so I thought I should give him some space." She paused, remembering the far off look Sonic had had when he wandered from the Typhoon; the look that instantly gave over the impression of emotional turmoil. She had wanted to give with him, talk to him, but she respected his desire to be alone and let him go off.

Rouge suddenly looked alarmed and quickly began to stagger off.

"Something wrong Rouge?" The pink hedgehog asked.

"Oh nothing." The bat replied but it was clear from the look on her face that she was in some discomfort. "I just don't feel very well of a sudden!" Without another word she dashed for the public bathroom.

* * *

- 

Purposely separating himself from anyone he knew, Sonic wandered aimlessly about the station with very little interest in where he was going so long as he was alone with his thoughts. Eventually he settled into one of the many restaurants within the station, sat and stared out of a window towards the stars.

He placed the round metallic disc he had picked up yesterday down on the table in front of him, the icon with the twin tail icon on it turned up.

Had it really been him there? Sonic wanted to believe it so badly he was prepared to ignore facts and defy reality. But still, he knew it was impossible. Void had told him that much already.

He was gone, they were both gone.

But then just how had this come to be here? The icon was unmistakable and its origin very clear.

There was no other explanation… he was here, or at least watching them.

But that assumption in itself raised even more questions, like how, why and most importantly why wasn't he prepared to show himself directly?

Sonic had chosen not let anyone else know about this, or even see the disc until he made sense of it all in his own mind. There was no telling how the others would react to it and quite frankly they needed to remain focused as it was.

"When you of all people look melancholy its not a good sign." A voice sated and Sonic glanced up to see Topaz. She sat down in the chair beside him. The strange thing was that she was wearing a uniform. It was a green short top with a brown leather strap across her waist, with pouches along it like belt. Before she noticed he tugged the metal disc back into his glove and out of sight.

"What's with the new suit?" He asked.

"Okida and I have come to a decision." She told him. "We're not going to go with you when you go to the next rounds of the tournament."

"Wha…"

"We've enlisted as freelance mercenaries in Com-Fed space force." Sonic just sat there looking stumped. "Okida should be moving the Diablon out of the Blue Typhoon's hanger even as we speak." Sonic tried to find words to reply but floundered for a moment.

"But why?" She smiled in response and a faint blush tinged her cheeks.

"We just... we just thought while you guys are following Eggman and collecting Chaos Emeralds we can help keep the Confederates off your backs." Even coming out of her words Sonic could tell there were other reasons why this sudden and dramatic decision had been made.

"And I'm sure this has nothing to do with the time you and bat boy spent together lately?" Topaz's face turned almost blood red. "Tell me, does he know what colour your underpants are yet?" This time her face really did go completely red.

"You mobian's have such perverted minds!" She snapped at him looking as if she might slap him at any time.

"Oh really? And how would you know that?" Realizing she had trapped herself, Topaz trailed of the angry reply she had been preparing.

"My relationship is Koji is entirely professional." She murmured. "In any case, my own reasons for doing this are because this is something I have to do." Topaz leaned back in her chair, trying not to look so flustered. "Compared to some of the others on the Typhoon we're reserve. So far, I think we're only getting in your way." She smiled. "Besides, the Diablon is a fighting machine designed for war. Not something to use in a racing tournament."

"Yeah I guess." Sonic sighed and leaned on the table. "You told Rouge yet?" Topaz shook her head.

"We wanna leave without any big fuss so neither of us have told anyone else. So do you mind letting the guys know?" The blue hedgehog managed a wide grin.

"You know they're probably going to think the two of you are eloping." Topaz turned red again and sparks of anger were clear in her eyes.

"Attention, will all outgoing ships please delay their departure. We have incoming Predator class battleship for docking at number 6 vacant jetty." The announcer voice proclaimed to the entire station before she could snap back in reply.

"Predator what?" Chris had just enough to ask as his group were making their way across the foray, before everyone around them starting freaking out, running around frantically and yelling.

"All staff and current visitors, brace for inertia. Medical and engineer crews on standby."

"Oh crap." Sera muttered.

Without warning the entire station began shaking as if caught in an earthquake. Tables and chairs were thrown over and dozens of people knocked off their feet.

"What the hell?" Sonic asked, pushing himself off the floor. Glancing out the window of the service station he was passing through out of the restaurant, he watched as a ship began to emerge from jump.

The sheer size of it was unbelievable. It rivalled the Egg Carrier itself in size and looked like a sword puncturing its way through the fabric of space as it appeared. The bow was thin like a blade, the underside almost deadly sharply with turrets along the upper edge. The back half of the ship was blunt with engines and thrusters of tremendous size forcing the ship along.

The vessel had the illusion of being thin but the width was tremendous in itself. It's entire body shining silver that darkened into a steal grey towards the back. The shockwaves from the jump was ending tremors through the station, knocking the ships docked with it about in several directions and causing chaos on the station itself.

Once fully formed after the jump it moved towards the station preparing to dock. Any smaller ships made a hasty retreat out of the giant's way.

When it docked with the station the jolt sent anyone left on their feet down to the floor.

The Predator was a military class ship in service in space fleet of the Combined Federation. They were unofficially dubbed the 'swords of space'. They were the backbone of the Federation's military force, juggernauts that could match anything in the Confederation arsenal, baring the Ymir themselves.

"Attention, this is Captain Jal of the Predator ship: Helios." Another voice stated, the voice passing over the station and all over around the planet's surface. "All civilian and non-combat personnel evacuate orbiting stations at once.

An attack fleet belonging to the Confederation has been sighted heading for Chimera coordinates.

For your own safety please evacuate the stations A.S.A.P." Chaos on the station was tremendous. Everyone started scrambling for the ships and either making for space or the safety of the planet itself.

"Everybody on, let's go, let's go, let's go!" Lieutenant Milford declared, hurrying everyone who had chosen to remain on the Typhoon up into the ship. "Accept you!" He reached and grabbed Fang by the scruff of his neck before the weasel would slip past. "You're still on probation, you're going to help me get this tub organised!"

"Disengaging magnetic docking clamps." Chuck announced, his hands running over the controls of the helm. The Typhoon shuddered as the electromagnets holding the ship to the station were turned off.

"All crew are accounted for apart from Okida and Topaz." Hare called up as others began piling onto the bridge.

"They won't be coming with us." Sonic stated. "Start up the Typhoon. Get us outta here."

"Outta here? We're not staying to fight?" Hare asked looking back up over his shoulder. A moment later a red metallic shape with the wings of an angel flew past the bridge windows, souring forward to join the amassing Com-Fed defence force.

"They have it covered." Sonic replied with a brief smile.

"We don't have the arsenal to take on an entire fleet anyway." Chuck said, reinforcing the decision. "I'm taking us out to our jump coordinates." The cargo bay doors leading onto the station closed and the ship pushed itself away from the station, navigating its way through the sudden space full of desperate ships also trying to make a retreat.

"No more, no more ups and downs…" Knuckles muttered from behind his glove, hands held over his mouth as he lay on the floor with his face turning a shade of green.

"Or round and rounds…" Rouge added; her back against his trying desperately to keep her stomach from emptying its contents.

After the Helios was quickly refuelled it detached from the station once more and made attempts to assume its defence position. Captain Jal was a human female officer with a long service record behind her.

She had been in action before and knew the routine for the defence of worlds.

There was a soft thud and the Diablon landed directly on the tip of her ships bow and stood there, simply waiting. This weapon and pair of mercenaries they had taken on had better be as skilled as the planet's commander, the Lieutenant General, suggested.

"Ships appear to be seven regular space-carriers. No escorts." By now the hostile ships could be picked up on their own radar.

"No escorts?" She repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Are they trying to make themselves easy targets?" Well, it didn't matter. If the Confederation thought they could take a world as heavily defended as Chimera with that few a ships then they were welcome to try. A stupid enemy was a gift from god. "Ready all forward guns; lock on target."

"Aye sir."

From within the Diablon, Okida watched the ships appear on the Mech's own sensors. Rather than watching directly, he could feel them as if sensing their approaching. Topaz's mind joined with his in this machine be practically **_became_** the Diablon. He could feel, smell, taste, hear and see through its sensors. It was an assault on his body that would have been impossible had Topaz not been sharing the burden with him.

He found this current situation disturbing.

Surely the Confederates knew exactly what they were up against and yet they had deployed such a small force of ships, and carriers at that, not even war vessels. Those ships, he knew from looking at the specs the Com-Fed guys had given him, had neither serious armaments nor defences. They were simply for transporting cargo or troops across large distances.

Their formation suggested an invasion force, but how did they expect to land on the planet to deploy their troops without being shot to pieces first?

The Diablon's sensor's echoed into both his mind and Topaz's, warning them against imminent danger that things were not as they appeared.

"I'm scanning the ships now." Topaz's own voice echoed into the reached of his mind. "I don't see any…" She stopped.

"That's the matter?" Okida asked back telepathically.

"I can't sense anything." The human replied. "No body heat onboard any of those ships."

"What does that mean?"

"There's not a single soul aboard. They're completely devoid of crew." Okida was left there puzzled. If those ships were on auto–pilot and there wasn't anyone onboard, then what could possibly… the answer came to both of them instantly, a simple realization of the presence of a familiar enemy.

"Captain, call out your fighters!" Okida slammed down his fist onto the communications device.

"For only seven Confederation ships?" Jal asked.

"There aren't any Confederates' on those ships!" The major replied, now desperate to make them understand exactly what they were facing before it was too late.

"Then what the hell is?"

"Look!" Someone shouted. Okida glance dup towards the ships. Hanger doors on the underside of each were opening up one by one and strange, large metallic object were being pushed away from the vessels by robotic grappling hooks. A pair of blood red eyes began glowing on each one before thrusters kicked in and these new enemies shot forward at tremendous speed.

"Mechs!"

Lasers crossed the distance between the two forces faster than the Combine Fed people could anticipate, carving a massive hole down the side of the Predator class ship. These new fighters behaved like regular space craft only until they got close enough and it was then that their bodies rotated around in several directions until their true forms were revealed.

Massive humanoid robots the size of the Diablon itself, covered in black armour and with the Confederation's icon, the Star Eye, printed onto their massive chest plates came rushing forward. A large serial number was painted on their left shoulder pads. They belonged to the E4000 series.

The armour around the Diablon's chest peeled back revealing the barrel of its main weapon. The fine laser beam lance forward and like a blade sliced through one of them as it passed by, carving it in half. The strike pierced its power core and the resulted unleashed energy caused the entire machine to explode.

Noticing the opposition, the remaining six reformed into a tight formation and came flying directly at the mech.

The Diablon's wings spread out wide and it flew up, avoiding the laser strike that came flying at it.

"Did Eggman build these things?" Topaz asked, trying to coordinate the Diablon's defensive movements while Okida concentrated on offence.

"Whoever did they made them damn fast." Okida replied as they shot past the Diablon so fast he wasn't able to catch them with the laser strike. "Damn it, I hate hand to hand. What I wouldn't give to have some sort of fire arm other than that laser on this mech." Okida was skilled at marksman

Someone on the Helios finally got their act together and the mount laser turrets on top of the ship opened fire at the Mechs.

One of the machines at the back was caught in the fire and riddled with holes before exploding. The remaining six divided into two groups, three taking on the Diablon with the others soured directly at the Helios.

Okida could see this was a diversionary tactic. These scouts were to engage and keep their enemies occupied while the main force flew on forward to their actual target. Topaz scanned back and saw that the seven space carriers were rapidly accelerating, trying to make it past them to Chimera while they were busy.

Ships from the planet's surface were taking off to intercept, but more robots were being launched from the carriers to match them. There seemed to be no limit to how many Mech's the ships could deploy and it soon became clear that they were going to be overwhelmed.

The Diablon's grabbed one of the robots' wrist and closed a fist around it, breaking the entire hand off. The robot staggered back on the surface of the Helios before the Daiblon's other hand slammed forward into his chest and then wrenched back, tearing a huge check of wires and gears out with it. The Mech swayed before crashed down onto its back.

"The enemy has passed our first defensive line." Captain Jal told them over the communications link. "The Helios isn't fast enough to catch them before they enter Chimera's atmosphere. However from what I understand the Daiblon should be able to catch up with them without much difficulty."

"I understand. But we can't take on all of those Mech's." Okida replied. Despite being the most advanced Mech of its kind it still had limitations. The Diablon was a powerful machine, but not that powerful.

"You won't have to. Just keep them occupied long enough for us to reach you and we'll take care of the rest."

"You have things covered here?" The last of the robots buzzing around the Helios was targeted by the turrets and it exploded. The last two went flying at the Diablon, with grabbed their heads in each hand, squeezing and squeezing until they cracked and burst into shards of burning metal. "Right, understood."


	24. Episode 12, part 2

-

Evacuation orders were given to Metal City civilians almost at once. The Com-Fed space force did not know what these new enemies were but they were far more powerful a force than the standard Confederate attack fleet, even in their small numbers.

By the time anyone realized the seriousness of this invasion attempt it was probably too late. Smoke began rising from the first defence line within minutes, communications lost with the defenders. The only reply on a communications link was static occasionally broken by electronic beeps.

"I don't know what these things are sir but they're unlike anything I've ever…" The communications line went dead for the final time. The Lieutenant General snarled and swore in his native tongue.

"Hold your positions until I say otherwise!" He barked and the troops under his command did not argue.

They formed a thick defensive barrier around Metal City as it became clear the capital of Chimera was their enemy's target.

They had attacked with such a small force yet they were decimating their defences, and the Lieutenant General didn't even know what 'they' where.

"What in the name of…" Darion demanded as men began running out of rain forest trees desperately trying to make it to the safety of the Metal City walls.

"Run; run for your lives!" They all seemed to be screaming as they shot past the Lieutenant General's own defensive position.

The ground began to shake in succession as if reeling from dozens of extreme heavy footsteps and the trees of the rainforest were being pushed back and over as something of enormous size passed through them. After a moment, rows of glowing blood red eyes could bee see through the trees.

Before this new enemy even came within sight, an intense volley of laser strikes tore through the canopy and smashed directly into the mounted turret defences. Explosions ran out across the cities outer walls, fire spreading at a phenomenal rate.

No organisation in the known galaxy had advanced robotics technology, so when the E6000 Marionettes came within sight the sight of these mechanical giants was enough to send many of the defenders running for their lives.

Turrets started rising from between the buildings and as soon as they were full open, they opened fire; the blasts tearing the top half's of some of the advancing Mech's, but more just seemed to take their place.

Within a single minute they were blasting the southern gate to pieces and others were marching through in single file down the street leading into the city itself.

There was a loud roar as one of the ships that had dropped the Mech's flew over, its cargo bay doors still open. As it soared over the building, it began dropping more objects.

These were round objects that resembled metallic balls but each of them seemed half the size of a city block. They each crashed down onto the ground leaving small craters wherever they hit.

For a moment it looked like they were bombs. But when they failed to explode it became clear they had another purpose.

Long pieces of the ball's surface pushed themselves off, revealing themselves to be armour attached to six long mechanical legs.

These new Mech's were the latest machines designed specially for clearing away defending structures. Due to their shape their creator had affectionately dubbed them 'CrabMeat's' or E5000 for their serial number.

A pair of massive pincers on each one swung outwards, smashing into buildings as they went sending several of them toppling over.

"Fire, fire!" Was the screamed order of the Lieutenant General as the machines began tearing into the defence turrets, ripping them to pieces before they had a chance to defend themselves.

'Establish presence in capital and defend until reinforcements arrived.' Those were the orders the Mech's had been given. Little did they know there weren't any reinforcements coming, nor being machines would they have cared.

Sensors picked up an object rapidly approaching from above. It was passing through the atmosphere at a tremendous speed and the heat it was radiating was enough to send blaring 'warning' signals through nearly all of the attacking robots.

Several of the E6000 raised their rifles ready to fire upwards, but a thin precise laser beam struck down and sliced them in half before they could fire. As each of them exploded one after the other, the Diablon touched down onto the ground.

The surface of its armour was almost glowing with the intense heat it had picked up due to atmospheric friction.

Several of the Marionettes tried to grab it from behind but as soon as their metallic hands came into contact with it, the fingers melted away.

"Bad idea." Okida muttered grinning as the Diablon's left arm arched around delivering a punch directly into the Mech's chest. The heat did more damage than the blow and within moments a large melted hole lay through its chest plate.

"Five o clock!" Topaz warned him through their link. The Diablon ducked down to avoid a barrage of laser fire, before its wings spread out wide either side. Flying through the air it became a blazing comet of heat. Even as it passed by the Marionettes their armour melted and their energy cores burst.

Two CrabMeat Mech's turned from their work demolishing Metal Cities defences and scuttled sideways at the Diablon, their pointed feet stabbing the road as they went.

Massive metallic claws went up high before coming down in an attempt to crush the smaller Mech underneath.

Again the Diablon's laser slashed forward and the claw flew apart, leaving the Crabmeat horribly off balance. It staggered backwards and its partner ran forward to take its place.

"Charging charged particle cannon." Topaz told him. That weapon wouldn't be ready for another minute or two so until then Okida was just going to have to do it the old fashion way.

By now the surface of the Diablon had cooled down considerably so enemies would no longer melt at the touch, but the scorching did provide enough leeway for Okida to tear through the claw with his bare fists. Taking told of the massive limb, the Diablon pulled the CrabMeat back before throwing it forward. The legs buckled and it crashed to the ground.

Before it could rise; the Diablon stamped on its head crushing the electronic brain inside.

Recharging of the laser complete, the Mech's head swirled around in an arch and its weapon fired. Like a blade it sliced through the air severing the heads of several marionettes. Each of them swayed before crashing to the ground.

Changing their priority from territory control to enemy extermination, the remaining Marionettes all seemed to charge directly at the Diablon while the CrabMeat's dealt with the defenders.

"Twenty seconds until particle charge complete." Topaz alerted him, trying to keep her attention on the power build up rather than the fact they were not completely surrounded.

The shield flew up, blocking the thick barrage of laser fire that struck from all sides.

"May wanna hurry that charging up a little." Okida told her, the shields strength declining percent by percent as the barrage continued.

As the shield neared fifty percent capacity, several of the marionettes were blasted to pieces as one of the resident Com-Fed ships flew overhead, the turrets on its underside firing in rapid succession.

As it tried to pass over, a single shot from a Marionette struck it across the box. The force of the explosion tipped it over as it coursed through the air. Then with a loud crash it slammed into the ground, parting buildings as it went and breaking up.

"Charge complete." Topaz stated and several compartments all over the Diablon's body opened up revealing glowing neon blue panels underneath. Sparks of lightning lanced across them like a coming thunderstorm.

"Firing particle charge cannon!" the discharge final came and when it did nothing stood in its way.

A sphere of burning particles shot outwards. A deadly expanding ball of energy that scorched anything in its path. The marionettes in its path were reduced to ashes immediately and others just outside its radius were sent flying back to crash into the ground by the shockwave.

Finally the attack complete, the panels all over the mech's body slid shut to conceal the steady stream of smoke rising up.

"Energy burn damage to the left arm." Topaz told Okida. The major forced the Diablon to hold out its hand. The energy discharge had scolded the armour and the fingers were having trouble responding. Through the sensors it felt as if the entire arm was numb. Also the Diablon's laser was failing to charge.

The landscape around them was changed significantly. The energy discharge had reduced most of the buildings to burned out corpses of their former selves and piles of ash showed where any enemies had been standing. This attack had rendered an entire cite block to an uninhabitable mess.

Without warning the buildings around them were pushed aside and enemy mech's rose up. Damage done to their armour plating but otherwise they were still function. And so where the laser rifles they had in their hands, all of them pointed directly at them.

"Aw SHIT!" Okida cursed out load. A moment later the air was thick with streams of light.

It was only by Topaz throwing up the shield that the Diablon was saved from behind ripped to pieces, although she was not fast enough to prevent serious damage to the right arm. The armour was stripped off revealing the mechanisms and gears underneath.

The mech slid down a street using the buildings as a shield as the marionettes continued to fire, trying to strike the Diablon down.

"Come on, activate already." Topaz muttered telepathically, trying to get the laser operational again. "It's no good, its offline." That was not surprising. Smoke was still rising from the cracks in the armour at the top of the Diablon's head.

Charged particle technology was something only Metal Sonic appeared to have mastered. With the Diablon it appeared the systems were not fully compatible with it.

"How's our shield?" Okida asked.

"It'll hold for now." She replied scornfully. "But it can't take punishment like that forever." The system displays of their defensive mechanisms were all outlined in red, the mech's computer telling them it wasn't invincible.

The ground shook in a succession of footsteps and a shadow cast itself over them. Glancing up Okida saw the danger coming just in time and the Diablon leapt out of the way just in time to be avoid being crushed as the giant claw of a CrabMeat mech swung down.

Grabbing a piece of rubble nearby, the Diablon tossed it through the air like a baseball. It slammed directly into the mech's head and slammed right through it, bursting out the far side. The CrabMeat swayed for a moment before crashing down. The victory was short-lived as another CrabMeat and another three Marionettes took its place.

"Where the hell is that ship?" Okida demanded. Just how long could it take for the Helios to descend through the atmosphere? This city was being cut to ribbons by these machines.

Darting through the crashed remains of the ship that marionettes had brought down, the mech kept looking for something it could use. Without its laser the Diablon was reduced to hand to hand combat and the Marionettes weren't going to let it get close enough for that.

"My kingdom for a…" Okida began and then suddenly something caught his eye. The front of the ship was almost complete undamaged and attached to the front was something that made his eyes sparkle with glee. "Finally!" The Diablon lashed out, grabbed the massive weapon and tore it clear of the ship.

It was a projectile weapon, a secondary backup weapon in case the ships main lasers failed.

It fitted the Diablon perfectly.

Wires and cables lanced out of the mech's arm and connected up to it, the system making the connection in moments.

Lifting the massive gun up, it fitted directly into the hand of the Diablon like a shotgun.

A Marionette came souring at the Diablon from behind. The red machine shot around and the trigger was pulled. A projectile about the size of a human leg issued from the barrel, sung as it pierced the air and slammed directly into the robots head. The metal was torn through by the collision and the shockwave sent the Mech slipping backwards until it collapsed to the ground. "Ah now that's a bit more like it!" Okida declared out load, grinning from ear to ear.

Four CrabMeat Mech's came scuttling down the main street at them, their turrets rising up and the laser barrels rotating around. The shoulder armour on the Diablon opened up like the bud of a flower and its shield formed a barrier around it, the laser strikes peeling off around its edge.

More projectiles shot forth, slamming like bullets into the mech's chests forcing them back several hundred feet before collapsing.

"Diablon, this is Helios." A voice spoke into the Diablon's cockpit. It was captain Jal. "We're descending through the atmosphere now. " Okida glanced up to see a burning object almost as bright as Chimera's sun in the sky.

"I see you." Okida replied. "We'll hold them off until you arrival." The Daiblon swung its gun back and fired several shots through the head of a Crab Meat, the massive bullet massing through to strike the Marionette behind it.

Dozens of robots came flying around a corner, their laser rifles raised ready to fire.

"Game over." The vampire bat muttered and the Diablon pulled the trigger. The large gun clicked. The trigger was pulled several times again with the same result. "You have to be kidding!" The bat began in disbelief but there was little he could do to change the fact that the gun was out of ammunition. "Ok, fine. I guess we're going to end up doing this the old fashioned way anyway!" The Diablon spread its wings out wide like an angel and charged…

--

Reality replied like the surface of a pond for a brief moment before the jump completed itself and the Typhoon ended up back in a huge mess of intergalactic traffic. Throwing on the breaks Chuck only just managed to avoid slamming into the back of a large vessel.

The jump being too much, Knuckles vanished into the bathroom. The trend was shortly followed by Rouge as she disappeared into the ladies.

"Destination, planet Fenrir." Chuck announced to the crew. "Jump complete." Hare pulled himself up onto the rail near the windows. His legs felt weak underneath him and so steadying himself he glanced out at the stars outside. All the patterns were different again but that was not what grabbed his immediate attention. Rather it was planet nearby.

It was smaller than Chimera had been and instead of being yellow or green it was blue. For a moment hare thought he was looking at Earth but Earth didn't have Saturn style rings around it.

"Cutting and running like that certainly ain't our style." Bark remarked, folding his large arms as he walked onto the bridge with Sonic and Amy just behind him. "I mean, since when do we run away from a fight anyhow?"

"It was covered, don't worry about it." Sonic replied with a sigh as he walked past, his eyes kept almost all the time on his shoes.

"Yeah, and we loose another two fighters." Bark muttered. "First Metal Sonic, then Chaotix and now our two best mech pilots?" the polar bear rolled his eyes. "Whose gonna walk out next?" Sonic did not say anything. Clearly he had other things on his mind.

Okida and Topaz had gonna off without a second thought. Others aboard this ship was putting aside this fears to work together and yet he was afraid simply to voice in own feelings and concerns.

Amy and Bark exchanged glances.

"Sonic what's wrong?" She asked stepping forward. "It isn't like you to be so quiet." The blue hedgehog glanced up, then down looking indecisive. He paused and then slowly reached into his glove.

"I know who asked Dark Oak to scatter the Chaos Emeralds around space like this." He began slowly. Amy blinked.

"You do?" Chuck asked, leaning over the side of the pilot's seat. "Who?" Sonic removed something from his glove and held it hidden in his other hand for a moment.

"The answer was staring us in the face the moment we got to Chimera." He replied and then he showed them what he was holding.

A metallic disc, engraved with the icon of two twin tails.

"You… can't think…" Amy began almost in disbelief.

"I don't think Amy." He replied. "I know." He stared her directly in the face. "I saw him." The expression on his face told of conflicting emotions of relief and fear. "It was Tails."

-

The sound of voices joined in praise echoed up from the cathedral hall below to the hidden chamber concealed away from the prying eyes of the congregation. It was here that the gathering took place.

The room was large and lit only by candle light, dark shadows casting themselves over the ceiling and floor as a secret door in the wall opened up with the soft churned of cogs.

"Praise be, my brothers." The hooded man began as those essential to his summoning arrived escorted by their private body guards; all of which under pain of death had been sworn to secrecy.

The man's face was concealed by a white cowl attached to the white robes he wore; the marks in red down each side of the sleeve being a red thunder bolt. "I trust we all know why we are here."

"I am still awaiting the moment where you reveal this to be some kind of warped joke." One of them stated coldly. Like the first, there were two other hooded men in white robes and cowls hiding their faces. Their escorts were men in metallic armour with white capes made of canvas hung over their shoulders.

Other men were here in abundance as well, wearing grey robes marked with a blue thunderbolt. They differed in race but one characteristic they all shared. Whatever species naturally grew hair had saved it off.

"Believe me I would like to but I can not. The threat I warned you about is all too real." The first hooded man assured him. "I am sure all of you have heard from your own spies the reports of heretical messages being spread through the galaxy, talk about the toppling of our order?"

"Mere babble passed along by the homeless." The second replied glancing away. "Are you telling me you called a tribunal because of the whispers of commoner rumour?"

"If that was the case I would resign my position at once but I'm afraid my sources are a bit more reliable than that." He paused to take in a deep breath and looked around at those assembled here. They were all looking intently back at him. "The Orrery has activated."

There was a sudden rush of conversation amongst those present. The bodyguards remained perfectly still and silent in spite of it.

"Are you certain?" The third hooded man asked, sounding a little unnerved. The first nodded.

"The ancient machinery began to move a little over two years ago. It was slow at first and revealed very little but lately its movements have become increasingly more erratic and rapid."

"And you waited until now to inform us?" The second monk like figure demanded angrily. "Just what the hell are you playing at?"

"I had to be certain as to what it meant." The first said defensively. "I spent any months in study, consulting the machine for divination and far sight. After long contemplation I am forced to draw only one conclusion." He took another long pause to gain their undivided attention. "My fellow faithful, we have entered the time of the Trigger."

Now even the bodyguards looked a little unnerved and frightened. "The details are slow in coming but one thing I am certain of is that we face great peril.

Cronos seeks to break his bonds."

"By Gaia and Zeus." Someone in the lower monk group gasped, his sentiment echoed throughout the chamber.

"We have all read the mosaic our patron left behind, we all know what this means." The hooded monk continued. "This is the era our patron foretold when the fate of all would be decided." He turned to face the third hooded man. "The Queen of Fenrir is with child, correct?"

"Yes. She is expecting the birth any day now." He replied.

"The Orrery foretold this." The first started quickly. "The second landmark has been past, for a new born child will soon enter the house of the wolf. The Flames of Disaster will soon spread. We must act quickly."

"And now do you intend to find the Iblis Trigger?" The second asked. "It could be anyone."

"I already know who it is." The hooded monk replied sounding a little smug then he looked more serious. "Be forewarned. The Order of Thunder must be prepared to do whatever it takes to stop the coming events, even if it means killing the Trigger himself."

"Who is it?"

"The first land marker the Orrery informed me about made it clear. It told me the marked one would be the soul who 'destroyed the destroyer'." All eyes in the room, even those of the bodyguards, were suddenly on him. "The Iblis Trigger is Sonic the Hedgehog."

(In Chris' voice)

The second round of the Ex Galactic Grand Prix begins on planet Fenrir in the city of water, Soleanna. Its crunch time as Sonic faces the first Babylon Rogue in a race and if that isn't bad enough, Shadow makes his presence known throughout the galaxy.

What stake has the religious group, the Order of Thunder, have in the fight? Just what is the dark prophecy surrounding the prodigy of the Fenrir royal family and that of the Iblis Trigger?

Chaos is ready to erupt next time as the Sonic Riders saga continues with the Fenrir chapter. Don't miss it!


	25. Episode 13, part 1

**S.O.N.I.C GO!**

**S.O.N.I.C GO!**

**GO,** **GO, GO, GO; LET**'**S GO!**

**Sonic Riders; The Fenrir Chapter **

Episode 13: Weather the Storm

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With traffic around planet Fenrir being so bad, it was hours before the Blue Typhoon was allowed to dock with one of the service space stations in orbit. Even then it was going to be a while before their number came up to allow them to break orbit and venture down to the planet's surface. The incoming amount of ships was simply overwhelming the planet's ability to handle them and it was getting so bad it was they were almost moving in single file.

Word of the successful defence of Chimera from Confederation forces was welcome news. Apparently, the new weapons deployed would have overwhelmed the defenders had the Diablon not been fighting on their behalf.

"I can't believe the major and the captain would leave of all people." Hare remarked as he, Chris, Helen, Bean and Lieutenant Milford sat in the Blue Typhoon's kitchen area. It was almost continuously busy with the new bustling crew of over sixty. "I mean, Chaotix going their own way I understand; but those two…"

"I guess they've got their own path to follow." Helen sighed, playing with the soup in the bowl in front of her with her spoon. She didn't seem practically interested in eating. The sudden and unexpected jump from Chimera to Fenrir had left a lot of people with lost appetites but still she forced herself to eat enough to stave of hunger.

Bean on the other hand was having no problems whatsoever in downing bowl after bowl of the soup. After being stuck with rations from Com-Fed for so long, this was a divine relief for him.

"Oh this stuff is good." He murmured in delight half dripping the soup out from his beak. "Seems like an eternity since I've tasted anything with real flavour instead of the stale crap." Milford smiled in response.

"I put together a duty roster for everyone and those troublemakers onboard got kitchen duty. Half of them ain't half bad chefs." He explained. "It keeps them too busy to cause any trouble."

"Good call." Chris replied. "Oh but what about Fang?"

"Yeah, I doubt the little scumbags good for anything else besides crime." Hare remarked with a near sadistic grin.

"Guys only got talents for being a low life." Bean added, lifting another bowl to his beak. Milford's own smile only widened.

"Oh I don't know. He did cook the soup you're drinking." The bowl was dropped back to the table and soup came flying across the table striking Hare in the face as the duck spat it out.

"Attention all crew members." Chuck's voice announced loudly over the intercom system. "We have been given Orbit drop clearance and are now attempting to enter the atmosphere." Even as he spoke they all left the ship shift slightly as it uncoupled itself from the space station and began drifting, pulled down towards the world below them by its gravity. "All nonessential personnel please remain seated until further notice; thank you."

Fenrir was so much like Earth just looking at it was heart breaking. It was blue from space, with a thick covering of pristine white clouds across the northern hemisphere. The rings around the planet were larger than those on Earth and as they passed over them, some of the crew looked out the windows to millions of shimmering almost metal like rocks slide underneath. They almost cast a reflection of the Typhoon as it soured over.

The ship gained an orange glow as it met the atmosphere, the friction causing an increased in temperatures around the hull. Chuck, now acting captain, angled the boosters to correct their trajectory and without too much trouble they slid through the atmosphere and began flying at a high altitude.

"That was a sweet ride Chuck, you really know how to handle the old girl well." Sam Speed told him, giving the old man a thumbs up. Chuck smiled grimly.

"I had a lot of experienced flying this crate." He replied. "Ok, we're heading for the capital city at the moment. Once we get there we need Sonic to get himself over to the tournament for his next race." To Chuck's surprise, Sam did not flinch or shudder at the word 'race'. "You're a bit quiet Sam. I thought you'd still be angry with Sonic for competing in tournaments you couldn't hope to." The racer just shrugged as if it wasn't important.

"Nah, I used to but I guess I just sorta grew up. Trying to race Sonic's a good enough pass time, but I'm not doing it to prove a point anymore.

I'm big enough to admit there are something's in the universe even faster than me." Chuck stared at him in disbelief. "What?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ok, who are you and what have you do with Sam?"

"Ha de ha ha." Was the flat reply.

"Ok, our job is to keep and eye on Eggman and these Babylon Rogues of his." Chuck continued. "That'll be so and Rouge's job. We need to find out what the Doctor's up to with this tournament." Sam saluted. "Meanwhile, I've got to see if I can get a wide range Chaos radar working to see if I can find out if there's a Chaos Emerald on this planet."

Once the Blue Typhoon reached a low enough altitude, Sonic ventured out on deck and defying the harsh winds made his way to the tip of the bow.

Fenrir was not that different from Earth. It had the same blue sky, the same white clouds and even the colour water. As the Blue Typhoon began to descend the hedgehog could make out the ocean below it. A long stretch of dark blue that met with the horizon in the far distance.

Thankfully Fenrir was also have a cooler average temperature than Chimera. Sonic had thought himself melting on that planet. Here he could enjoy a refreshing cool breeze blowing through his quills.

While he stood there admiring the view, his thoughts went back to the others and their reaction to the icon he had shown them. There was no doubt in his mind now that in someway Tails was involved in Dark Oak's elaborate little Emerald scavenger hunt.

It made little sense. Tails had been sent away along with Cosmo through a dimensional warp to some other dimension, or at leas that was what Void had claimed. What was he doing here?

Sonic cast that question aside as not important. The mere fact he was alive, nearby and well was enough to put Sonic in the best mood he had ever been in his life. Now he was told everyone his own depressions seemed to melt away and a smile refused to leave his lips.

A loud roaring reached his ears and glancing up he watched another ship come down hurtling towards him. As it past by a door on its underside opened and an object hurled itself out. Sonic watched it as it plummeted towards him.

"Hedgehog!" A shrill voice declared as Hyper plunged down at him, arms extended and an expression of intense loathing on her face.

"Awww crap!" Sonic had time to shout before the reptilian half-breed tackled him off the edge of the Typhoon.

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"I'm telling you people that girl is after my blood!" Sonic remarked sourly, drying the salt water out of his quills with a towel. "If we hadn't been going over the sea she'd have killed me!"

Finally The Blue Typhoon was docked at the city of Soleanna. It wasn't called the city of water for nothing. It was built on the western coastline of the main continent and the streets were built to allow the sea water to flow in forming canals through the streets. It appeared from the outside like Venice, a sprawling city of red brick buildings and canals. There were even gondolas going back and forth underneath stone bridges that connected the districts.

This was only the downtown district of the city. Quite a good deal of it was as advanced in technology as Metal city on Chimera had been. The only visible difference was that Metal City was completely metallic while Soleanna tried to retain its rustic charm.

The Typhoon itself was at the sea docks. The space port on the other side of the city was full of traffic from the incoming ships and so their vessel had been forced to anchor itself like a normal sea going ship at the pier.

It was early summer here and it was hot. While not as baking as Chimera the loose clothing they had already attained came in handy.

"Maybe it's just your magnetic personality." Amy jested sourly not looking back at him. She still wasn't speaking to him after catching Wave trying to warm up to him. Nor had the loving gazes that Sera would send him occasionally gone unnoticed.

"So Chuck what's that Com-Fed data base have to say about Fenrir?" Hare asked, leaning over Prof. Thorndyke's shoulder as the old man accessed the information about various planets and factions given to them by Darion.

"It's a planet only recently admitted to join the Kingdom of Merchants." Chuck replied. "Its government system is run by a royal family and has numerous trading deals with the Federation."

"What about tourist destinations?" Rouge asked, leaning on his other shoulder.

"Tourist destinations?" Knuckles repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"While I'm here I might as well make the best of it." She retorted with a toss of her head.

"You'll be pleased to know that this planet is a shopper's paradise." Chuck told her. "Traders and merchants from all over the galaxy come here to move their wares. The market here is one of the largest…" He trailed off, noticing that he was now surrounded by girls. Amy, Rouge, Cream, Sera, Helen and Francis were all watching the screen in front of him with a strange anticipating look on their faces.

"You said the magic word 'shopping' Chuck." Sam told him from across the bridge with a grim smile.

"You girls might as well go enjoy yourselves." Sonic told them scooping his Extreme Gear under his arm. "I've got a race to get to anyway."

The ship belonging to the Babylon Rogues was already docked at the space port and had been there for some time before the Typhoon had arrived. Their ship was shaped like a bird like all ships belonging to the Falcon race where. Theirs had a few adaptations from various other vessels Wave had strip-mined over the years.

Jet had monitored the Typhoon's arrival carefully before he grew bored of it and switched his attention to other things.

The documents showing the layout of the various tracks being constructed through Soleanna were laid out across his desk and for the past hour he had been studying each one in detail.

His Extreme Gear laid on a purpose built display harness in the corner, recently polished so it gleamed in the overhead lights.

So far they only had one Chaos Emerald and that was going to get them absolutely nowhere. Eggman needed them desperately and so did Jet. While perhaps the Doctor's and his own agenda's did not meet exactly eye to eye, their common goal was almost the same so that made their alliance bearable.

Jet's eyes wandered away from the papers and over to the object placed on the far end of his desk. It was a dark stone cube about the size of his fist and engraved with rectangular markings that glowed a soft blue. He smiled briefly before turning back to his work.

Without warning the doors to his office flew open and Storm blustered in, slamming the double doors against the wall as he did so. The shockwave knocked a portrait overhanging Jet's chair off the wall. It fell and smashed the Hawk directly on the head, forcing him out of his chair and onto the floor.

"Err, Jet, where'd you go?" Storm asked, looking around. He was sure he'd seen their leader here somewhere.

Jet pushed himself up with one hand, holding the portrait in the other; a clearly extremely angry expression plastered across his face. "Oh there you are."

Jet pressed his beak together to prevent himself from calling his team-mate a series of insulting names.

"Watch what you're doing you dunderhead!" He snapped at him. "This painting the only one of my father. You break it, you bought it!" The painting in his hand showed a Falcon in full admiralty uniform dress standing heroically in front of a galleon class space ship with a cutlass drawn.

"At least learn to knock before entering a room Storm." Wave remarked coming into the room after him as she cast the albatross a sideways glance.

Storm wasn't listening. His gaze was fixed on the cube on Jet's desk.

"Hey it's that key you never let us play with!" He started picking it up and studying it in more detail. "Sure is pretty."

"That's my Father's keepsake." Jet replied, hanging the portrait back up. "Watch it, you break that and I'll break you."

"The key to the Babylon Garden." Wave breathed, looking at it in quiet awe. A central theme in Falcon mythology was the fabled garden hidden within their capital city on their home world of Roc.

Within this garden were reputed to be wonders that could challenge the authorities of god. Naturally it had been pursued by thieves and other assortments of organisations over the years but none of them had ever been able to find it, never mind open the door.

Jet's father had been the first to find the fabled key, reputed to be both the map to the garden and the door that unlocked it. Unfortunately it was still incomplete and at the moment was worse than useless.

Wave reached out for it.

"Uh uh, if you get your greasy little hands on this you'll probably use it in some crazy engineering experiment of yours." Storm remarked, lifting it higher beyond her reach.

"Oh come on, I only want to look at it." She persisted trying to reach it anyway.

"You always say you ONLY want this or that." The albatross stated keeping it out of her reach even when she jumped. "Remember the teaching of the prophet Poola the wise." He raised a finger on his free hand as Jet leaned back in his chair. "Be careful what you wise for. Ultimately, only three true desires will be fulfilled."

"Enough!" Jet snapped now quite bored of their bickering. "Why'd you burst in here anyway?" Storm blinked remembering exactly why he was here.

"Er… the egg head… the egg Salad guy…. no…" He stumbled trying to work with the difficult words.

"The Doctor's here to see you Jet." Wave told him. Storm nodded now remembering Eggman's name.

"Ah yeah, he said it was urgent." He added, shoving Wave aside.

"Stop interrupting. I'm the one telling him." The swallow said angrily.

Someone coughed at the door and the three Babylon Rogues looked up. Doctor Eggman stepped into the room with a bemused expression on his face.

"Am I interrupting anything?" He asked, crossing his arms behind his back.

"Ok Doc, this had best be good." Jet stated coldly. "I'm really not in the mood to banter right now."

"Oh that's a shame." Eggman replied with a widening smile. "Because I've just confirmed the location of another Chaos Emerald." Every Rogue stared directly at him.

"About damn time." Jet managed. "Where is it?"

"As luck would have it, Dark Oak hid the thing on the course being used in the races today." The Doctor said, pressing a button on his wrist watch. A holographic image of the course through Soleanna.

"Ah, good." The hawk said a smile. "The place is crawling with security so we can't fetch it the ordinary way. Storm, you're up next to race. You'll fetch the Emerald during the competition." The Albatross saluted. "Regardless of the Resistance's plans, I don't want that hedgehog in the way." Jet snapped.

"Couldn't agree more." Eggman added with a wide grin.

"Storm, when you go up against him I want that hedgehog stopped in his tracks. Grind him into the dust." The albatross smacked his large hands together, a sadistic expression passing over his face.

"Not a problem boss."

"Once you get that Chaos Emerald make sure blue boy doesn't realize what you're up to. We can't afford for Sonic to get wise to the plan. So no slips ups!"

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No one in Soleanna knew yet just what Sonic looked like, so for now he could afford to relax without fans appearing out of the woodwork to surround him. Flipping down his glasses, Sonic made his way up the central street with his Gear tucked under one arm. Like Metal City, Soleanna was a haven for many different species from many different planets.

There were Reptilians, Falcons, humans and dozens of other species Sonic had yet to learn the name of. As diverse as the crowd was his physical appearance did not attract much attention and he went through the masses unnoticed.

Mingling in with the crowds Sonic managed to learn a lot out the planets history and culture. Chuck had been right in that it had only recently joined the intergalactic community. The king had signed the treaty making them part of the Kingdom of Merchants only five years ago. Since then trade had flooded in, making the royal family insanely popular and incredible rich at the same time.

Culturally Fenrir was a very still in the 1800's and was separated into two religious dispositions. The southerners worshipped of Olympian gods while those in the northern highlands were devote servants of Odin.

Aristocrats ran most of the major business and had estates in and around the capital. They owned mostly everything, including the people who were entitled 'sherf' and included in the deal whenever land was bought or sold. Despite this the ruling class weren't reviled and people actually liked them.

Occasionally he would overhear pieces of gossip being passed around. The main topic seemed to be the tournament and whether or not the listener had tickets yet. However, another piece of information being passed around was that king and queen of Fenrir were going to be attending the tournament in person, despite the queen being extremely great with child.

"She's due any day now." A clerk at a food stall told Sonic when he bought a piece of fruit. "But from what I heard, the queen won't be dragged away from the tournament for anything. She wants to see it more than anything in the world."

"Oh?" Sonic asked, munching down on the apple like thing in his hand. "And why's that?"

"Haven't you heard?" The clerk asked looking taken aback. "Her hero, Sonic the Hedgehog; the Destroyer of the Destroyer himself will be competing." The hedgehog paused in mid bite. "They say he's here on Fenrir already, but no one here really knows what he looks like so where he is right now is anyone's guess." The human smiled grimly. "I couldn't have served him this morning and wouldn't know it."

"Yeah you might have." Sonic replied with a short smile, turning away trying hard not to laugh.

Carrying on through the streets, Sonic made his way to a restaurant overlooking the bay. The sun was shining high in the sky as Sonic sat himself down to admire the view. From here he could see the lagoon on which the city nearly sat and the expanse of ocean stretching off for as far as he could see. While swimming in water was more than Sonic could stand, seeing it from a distance was fine.

"Ah Sonic it is an honour to see you again." The hedgehog nearly panicked and dragged Talos down, placing a hand over his mouth.

"Watch it buddy I'm trying to keep a low profile here." He whispered to the reptilian.

"Sorry." Talos remarked sitting himself down in the seat on the opposite side of the table.

"Nah don't sweat it man." Sonic sighed. "What I'd like you to do is keep a tighter leash on your sister." Talos' eyes grew troubled.

"What did she do this time?" Sonic explained to him in detail how she had leapt from her ship to tackle him off his and into the ocean. "Is that all?" The Reptilian asked.

"What'ya mean, is that all?" Sonic demanded looking a little take aback.

"Hyper can do worse when she really gets going." Talos explained. "The last man who upset her was found locked in a metal container about to be cemented up in the foundations of a building." Sonic shuddered. If the girl was capable of that then she must have been holding back.

"What are you doing here anyway?" He asked. "No offence meant but I weren't you eliminated from the tournament?" Talos spread his scaly lips into a large grin.

"I was. But my sister hadn't. I'm here to see how she does all the way."

"And if she wins the tournament?"

"Actually I hope she doesn't. She's got an inflated ego as it is."

"Head's up all you fair denizens of Fenrir, this is your local intergalactic DJ Piranha giving you a heads up." Both Talos and Sonic glanced over at the radio sitting on the edge of the bar. "Sonic the Hedgehog is in town. His ship, the famous Blue Typhoon can be seen in sitting in the Soleanna bay right now." All the other customers in the restaurant as well as the owner huddled over to the edge to look towards the dock for any sign of the legendary vessel. "For those of you looking for the man himself, be on the look out for a blue dude in a spiky hair style and red shoes."

"Talos, I'll be seeing you later." Sonic remarking making a beeline for the exit before he was quickly pursued by over a dozen people with autograph books waving high in the air.

Passing through the streets with his description being broadcast on radio Sonic was recognised anywhere he went.

Suddenly, the fans were back.

Ducking into an alleyway and slid into the shadows as dozens of people poured out into the streets all declaring; 'he's here, he's here! Sonic's here!'

"As if I didn't have enough problems with fandom on Earth…" He muttered to himself. Fame was sometimes more cumbersome than its worth.

"Well what have we here?" A voice asked. Sonic glanced up and slammed himself back into the wall at the sight. Hyper was standing there before him with her hands on her hips; her long scaly tail swishing back and forth.

"No…" Sonic begged her but the sadistic smile on her face simply grew larger and her eyes more cruel. "Please no…" She whistled loudly attracting the crowd's attention.

"He's over here people, get your Destroyer of the Destroyer merchandise right here!"

As Sonic raced for his life, Hyper watched the pursuing crowds with a smirk of intense satisfaction.


	26. Episode 13, part 2

Like Metal City, Soleanna also had a stadium and out from that arena came the many tracks to be used up to the Semi-finals of the tournament. Crowds had been gathering there since the early morning and by mid day the entire grounds were packed. Screens to show the highlights of the races were displayed throughout town and digitally across the planet.

Along the main channel, the royal gondolla sailed up towards the coliseum, the many oars along the starboard and port hand side gently pushing it along with the flags bearing the royal crest fluttering forward from it.

The girls were already crammed into their seats as the boat made its way through the gates of the stadium river and into the centre of the arena. Sera had gone for snacks a short while ago and returned with bucket loads of food that looked more appetizing than that was being served on Chimera. Rouge was wary of it at first after the nasty experience some of Chimera's food had given her.

Around them were the piles of 'souvenirs' they had all collectively managed to gain during their shopping spree. They ranged from food to piles of new clothes all stacked in backs. Hare and Fang, the weasel under close watch, had helped them carry the stuff up and the two of them looked exhausted.

"How come…. we… had to carry… all of this?" The weasel asked, wafting himself with his hat.

"You're still on probation." Rouge replied, folding her arms and glancing away.

"And what did I do?" Hare demanded looking annoyed.

"Nothing, we just thought you could do with the exercise." Helen added. The rabbit shot her a sharp glare.

"Who are they?" Cream asked, looking over the edge of the seats in front of her at the two people being escorted off the barge, waving to the crowds to cheered them on.

"The King and Queen." Sera replied with a mouth full of what looked like hotdog without even looking up.

"Really?" Francis and Helen asked simultaneous and leaned over the side to stare along with Cream.

The king was a human with board shoulders, a large black beard and short hair on top around his crown; a magnificent mantle with feathers and rimmed with gold. The cowl was long and red with silver, expertly woven with black fabric.

The queen was obviously heavily pregnant. Her hair was bright red and long to her waist. She had a crown of feathers like the king only without any gold. Her dress was pure white and loose, hanging down below her ankles. Both of them were accompanied by what presumably were royal guards, men clad in engulfing white capes but with the gleam of armour underneath.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please remain quiet for the ceremonial lighting." Doctor Eggman's voice declared over the stadium's intercom and the crowds cheering died down to a hushed murmur.

A raised end of the stadium was a large stone platform with a large set of stairs leading up to it. Upon the top of which was a large brass brazier placed on stone pillar. Wrapping around it up to the top were several half brass pipes angled to represent the spread wings of a bird.

Accompanied by their guardsmen, the king and queen made their way up to it.

"What's he doing?" Cream asked.

"It's the lighting ceremony." Sera replied, picking up a tourist guide handbook she had picked up a short while ago. "At the start of every large scale public event the ruler will light the fires, called the Sun of Soleanna."

"Why?"

"It's a bit hard to explain. I'm not sure I get it." The cat girl peered closer at the booklet. "It's a… symbolic representation of the birth of existence. The warding off of primordial nothingness… of something they call… Iblis." Sera offered the booklet along the line. "Anyone else wanna try understanding it?"

"Don't look at me…" Amy remarked. The other girls just pretended as if something else had attracted their attention.

The king stepped forward before the brazier, his robe trailing out behind him. Slowly, he lifted both arms skyward and closed his eyes. For a moment there was silence and then with a loud whooshing sound, fire began spreading up the oil long the metal pipes; spiralling around reach other around the stone pillar before spreading out to form the wings of an eagle; the crest of the royal family. Then with a sudden engulfing sway of heat, the main dish burst into a towering flame.

"The Sun of Soleanna is lit." He announced to the crowd. "The light of existence banishes the Iblis devil to the hell of Tartarus and we are safe. Let the competition begin!" The crowds roaring voice came back in full force as Doctor Eggman appeared in the sky, standing aloft in one of his hover vehicles.

"This is a historic event people, so get recording!" Eggman declared to the crowd. "Here, today, you will witness two of the galaxies greatest racers compete against one another to advance one step towards the finals of the Ex Galactic Grand Prix." The crowds roared loudly and more balloons started rising towards the sky. "Are you ready for some intense racing action!" The stadium nearly erupted into a roar as the cheers rocketed skyward. "Then let's get the show on the road.

In this corner, the hedgehog that needs no introduction; the Destroyer of the Destroyer, Sonic!" As the hedgehog waded out into the centre of the stadium the crowds began cheering his name.

Barely managing to escape crowds of fans Sonic had made it to the stadium out of breath and covered in dust and dirt. Knuckles followed him out, carrying his Extreme Gear for him. Had Sonic not dumped into the Echidna in the street he could have lost his board to crowds of fans out for genuine merchandise.

"There, I told you you'd get to see him didn't I?" The king asked his wife as the two of them sat together in the grand viewing box overlooking the flaming brazier. The queen looked in awe at the hedgehog; and then smitten. The king glanced from her to the hedgehog and back again and then turned away sulking as if jealous.

"And his opponent is certainly renowned as well. Put your hands together for the bird who can shatter Typhoons; Storm the Albatross of the Babylon Rogues!" Eggman carried on and Storm marched out from the opposite side of the arena, greeted by the roars of his fans in the crowds in the Stadium, scattered across the planet and in the space stations in orbit.

"After I'm done here with the hedgehog, I'm coming after you red." The Albatross told Knuckles. "Just a friendly reminder!"

"Yeah well bring it on you bag of feathers!" Knuckles snapped, trying to swing punches in his direction but having Sonic stop him.

"You bet I will." Storm hissed. "And when we get down to business leave the Gears at home and bring your boxing gloves cause' I've a different type of competition in mind for you!" With that he marched off towards the starting line.

"Sonic…" Knuckles began, passing the hedgehog his board. "Crush him in this race for me will you?" Sonic grinned.

"My pleasure."

"The course our racers will be taking today will be through the Soleanna Aqueduct system." Eggman announced, his hover pod flying before the largest screen overhanging the stadium. The course through the city was displayed upon it. Sonic glanced down at the channel that ran through one end of the arena and out the other, the royal barrage being pulled aside for the race. He'd been wondering why that was there. "The added hazard of rapid running water makes this race a challenge for any racer." The doctor looked own to give Sonic a glance. "Especially if they don't like water."

The two of them approached the starting line at the side of the water. Sonic looked over the edge, judging how deep it was.

"Racers, on your marks!" Storm descended down, one arm arched behind him with his Gear held high. Sonic quickly copied himself. "Get set!" A drum roll came from somewhere and mouths went dry. "GO!"

Storm was away first, sliding down over the surface of the waters so fast the shockwave sent a wave backwards drenching Sonic from head to do. The hedgehog growled and was right behind him.

Racing out through the doors of the stadium, the channel began to narrow as they tried to pass each other through the water ridden streets of Soleanna. People all the sidewalks and bridges above were cheering them on, waving flags and shouting as loud as they could.

While Sonic's dislike of water was near legendary, the hedgehog was managing to keep a level head despite the fact that he knew that if he fell in, he wouldn't be able to swim to safety. He did, after all, have an image to maintain for his fans. It wouldn't do for the Destroyer of the Destroyer to been seen drowning in a canal.

Storm threw his weight forward and took the lead as the two of them emerged out from the canals and into the aqueduct system itself.

Soleanna had a very large Aqueduct system that took Sonic by surprise. It was if the ground suddenly ended and all that kept them up as the thing path of water. Far below, the city carried on in a purposely dug ditch were the seawater drained through large pipes to keep the city from flooding; but the aqueduct system kept going on and on; a maze of riddled water pathways suspended hundreds of feet above the ground until they reached the cliff on the far side. Bridges stretched the gap between the two cliffs and spectators were there as well.

"Give it up blue!" Storm shouted back. "This race is mine." Sonic simply smiled and shot forward, spinning up, landing his Gear on the edge of the Aqueduct. Grinding along this he flew past the albatross and took the lead.

"And Sonic has taken the lead, now all he has to do is maintain it all the way to the other side." Eggman announced as Storm somersaulted off to the right as another Aqueduct ran alongside his, switching to a different path. The aqueducts were like a highway junction, overlapping and running in dozens of different directions.

Sonic could see instantly that one mistake and it was going to be a very long way down. Using the water's own momentum to carry him forward he increased his speed, trying to make it towards the far end before Storm could.

Storm was directly below him on an Aqueduct lower down, speeding up by keeping the mass majority of his vast weight angled forward; purposely loosing balance. He was also on a slop going down meaning the added pull of gravity was causing him to go faster.

He was now taking a slight lead but Sonic kept going rather than taking the bait. He could see Storm was trying to lure him into following. Going down eventually meant coming back up where he would have to slow down.

"Ok, time to see what this baby can do." He muttered to himself, applying pressure to the board with his foot. With a sudden burst of speed he rocketed forward, spraying water out behind him as he went.

Storm watched him from below with a frown slowly spreading across his feature before spreading his arms out wide. His feathers aligned themselves with the air current and like sails they carried him forward at a fast quicker pace.

"Both racers have reached the halfway point of the Aqueducts." Eggman told the crowds as the doctor watched their progress on the large monitor. "Once on the other side it'll be a mad dash back across the suspension bridge. Remember, the first to make it back to the stadium wins." The queen on the edge of her seat, despite the fact the posture was bad for her back when she was carrying so much extra weight.

Rounding a sudden bend in the road Sonic came right alongside the giant steel suspension bridge that lanced the gap between the two cliffs. Vehicles were trying to drive alongside him, new fans waving him on.

He grinned, gave them a thumbs up and carried on.

"Storm, this is Wave." The albatross glanced down at the small monitor in his wrist watch. His comrade's face was staring back up at him. "You're coming up on the Emerald. Don't miss it!"

Sonic suddenly did something unexpected.

He jumped, pulling his Extreme Gear up with him as he somersaulted off the edge of the Aqueduct.

"I don't believe it!" Eggman declared, forgetting for an instant that he was speaking into a microphone. "The rodent finally committed suicide!" The queen looked distraught.

Sonic did several acrobatic flips and spins in mid air, played his board like a guitar before landed on an Aqueduct lower down, the gathered momentum throwing him forward.

"Show off." Amy remarked rolling her eyes.

Sonic suddenly looked alarmed at the poor choice of Aqueducts to land on. This one ended adeptly almost right in front of him. As the ground disappeared from underneath his board, he flipped it forward; flying through the air.

As he floated in mid air, he got the perfect bird's eye view of the Aqueduct system below.

Sitting in the largest one at the bottom of the largest one, remaining steadfast despite the current, was a glowing dark blue stone.

It took less than a second for the hedgehog to guess what it was.

Storm came flying in, scooping it up out of the water with a massive hand and flying off with it.

Sonic soared on until he landed on the edge of another aqueduct, grinded his board along it before regaining balance.

Storm carried on ahead in the lead, approaching the edge of the far cliff; tucking the Chaos Emerald in amongst his feathers.

Just how on Earth had Storm known…?

Suddenly things clicked into place in his mind.

"Now I get it!" So that was what Eggman was doing with this tournament. "Ok, now that I know what the stakes are its time to get serious!" Throwing everything he had into increasing his speed.

The two of them were neck and neck when they reached the far side of the caesium and emerged onto more stable ground, moving up stream through the canals.

Sonic was the first to move from the water onto the cleared streets, trying to make it to the bridge back to the stadium first. Storm was right behind him, throwing his weight forward so much it looked like he might tip over at any moment.

Moving onto the bridge both at the same time, their fans cheered them on but their faces turned into an inaudible blur as they travelled at this fast a speed.

Sonic knew he could beat this joker easily running but he wanted to beat these Babylon Rogues at their own game.

"I am not loosing to a mammal!" Storm snarled.

"I beg to differ. The blue hedgehog replied and then slammed his foot down the front of his board, the action throwing him forward at tremendous speed.

"Two can play that game!" Storm called after him; bring his foot up to mimic the action.

"Storm, don't!" Wave called to him through his com-watch but she was too late. His foot came crashing down, implying his large bulk down on the front. His board couldn't take the force and its nose crashed down into the floor. Like a springboard it threw Storm forward through the air until he crashed into a market stand.

Sonic entered the stadium unchallenged and soured across the finishing line at his leisure.

"We have a winner!" Eggman declared to the crowd. "Sonic the Hedgehog advances to the next round!"

Storm began cursing angrily as he picked himself up out of the wreckage of the stand, the owner angrily telling him that he expected all the damages to be paid for in full.

Sonic was about to give to the crowd when something familiar caught his eye. A flash of red and black moving from the side of the stadium to the gates.

Sonic tossed his gear aside and took after it, sliding to a stop just outside the stadium.

Waiting for him there was a figure that was more than familiar. A hedgehog with burning red eyes and black fur with blood red stripes, thick but short white chest fur and a cold aura about him.

"Shadow?" Sonic asked looking taken aback.

Wave had been trying to sneak up on Sonic but stopped at the sight of the unfamiliar hedgehog.

The black and Red hedgehog simply pushed his face into a deep frown. Wave muttered something to herself and stood back, watching from the side in interest. This looked interesting. "Dude, how did you get here?"

"That's none of your business." Shadow snapped in reply. Sonic blinked.

"Easy there man, don't get so uptight. We're on the same side after all." Shadow's expression did not change.

"That remains to be seen." He stated. Sonic just looked at him with a puzzled expression. Shadow remained silent fixing him with a hostile glare. "I've been watching your race. I can't believe with more important things to do you're wasting what little time you have on this nonsense."

"Gee Shadow what crawled up your butt?" Sonic asked scratching the back of his head. "I'm just glad to see you, that's all. Personally I don't care how you got here. We need all the help we can get." Shadow turned his back on him. "The Emeralds are scattered around here somewhere and we need to get them back if we're going to get back to Earth." The dark hedgehog paused at the sound of the word 'emerald'. "I think Tails is behind this too. That means he's around here somewhere.

"Well good for you." Shadow's tone was dripping with hostility. "Tell it someone who cares." Sonic was just left standing there with a confused look on his faces.

"Ok Shadow, what's the deal? Why are you so…" He reached out to place his hand on Shadow's shoulder. The dark hedgehog's hand whipped around and grabbed him by the wrist and as he did so he exposed the jagged mark on his left forearm.

"I've got some things I need to take care of and I intend to do them." He hissed into Sonic's ear, tightening his grip to the point where he was actually hurting him. "Consider this a friendly warning to stay out of my way. I want the Chaos Emeralds and I will have them, one way or another." He released Sonic, throwing him down to the ground.

He turned on his heal, kicking a good deal of dirt into the blue hedgehog face before marching off. In mid stride, he disappeared in a green flash of light.

"Sonic, there was one heck of a race. Meow!" Sera called up as several of the girls ran up to him. "Why are you on the ground?"

"I'm examining the granite." Sonic replied sarcastically.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-

Jet sat in his office alone. A half finished bottle of wine sat on the deck and a glass was in his left hand. His mood sombre, he had been trying to drink away the thoughts of some problems.

"Sorry!" Storm declared smashing his way into the room. Taken by surprise Jet leap up into the air so suddenly that he hit his head on the wall behind him. The portrait of his father was knocked loose, falling from the wall onto the Hawk to knock him to the ground. "He beat me… he beat me in the race!"

"I saw it Storm." Jet muttered angrily glancing over the top of his desk.

"You really are worthless." Wave muttered, coming in after the albatross.

"Boss, it wasn't my fault." Storm tried to explain looking flustered. "He… he must have cheated. That's it! He must have some better Gear, top range stuff!"

"Better Gear?" Wave repeated. "No one can make better Gear than me! Nobody can tune a gear the way I can either!" She jabbed an accusing finger in Storm's direction. "Accept it buddy, it's not the board. You're skills just plain suck!"

Storm's eyes widened with his stunned expression.

"S…s…. suck!" He began spreading his arms out with his mouth wide open. Wave turned her back on him and placed her hands on her hips.

"Yes." She replied calmly. "S-U-C-K, suck!"

"S…. S….."

"Stop it both of you!" Jet snapped as he placed his father's portrait in it's rightly place on the wall. "You're behaving like immature little children. You're Babylon Rogues for crying out loud!" The two of them almost snapped to attention. "At least tell me you got the Chaos Emerald!"

"Sure, it's right here." The albatross reached into his feathered withdrew the gemstone which he tossed in Jet's direction. The Hawk caught it effortlessly and held it up before him.

"Well at least it's not a total loss." He stared in Storm's direction. "Did Sonic know you were after this?" The albatross hesitated.

"I er…." Jet's stare intensified. "I don't know." The hawk groaned and slapped a hand against his forehead.

"Blithering idiot. Can't you do anything right?" Storm looked very sheepish. "If they guess what's really going on we're going to have some _real _competition." He walked over to the glass cabinet on the side and placed the Emerald next to the one they already had. "The last thing I need or want is keep tabs on blue boy."

"Sorry boss." Storm muttered. Jet bit his tongue, trying to silence choice words that bubbled to mind.

"Never mind. What's done can't be undone. You're out of the tournament but that doesn't matter." He closed the cabinet and turned to face them both. "I've got a job for you Storm and if you do it right you can redeem yourself." The albatross saluted.

"Sure boss."

"This Shadow character; that showed up after the race. I want you to find him again. Another after the Chaos Emeralds is a wild card in this game we could do without. Find out what he wants them for and why." Storm slammed his hand against his forehead in a salute.

"On it boss!" He nearly shouted turning to leave.

"And Storm?" The albatross halted suddenly looking apprehensive. "Screw this one up and don't bother coming back!"

"Yes sir!" Storm darted out the room, about faced and slammed the doors behind him. The room shock and once again the portrait of Jet's father was knocked off the wall.

Wave grimaced at the sound of Jet being knocked to the floor as it crashed down onto his head.

Now a little more than upset Jet began stomping up and down, kicking furniture across the room. At this point Wave made a tactical retreat.


	27. Episode 14, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO, GO, GO, GO; LET'S GO!

Episode 14: Birth of the fiery Princess

--------------------------------------------------

According to reports send back daily by Decoe and Becoe, the Egg Factory was now functioning at one hundred percent output. Production of Marionette and Crabmeat Mech's was progressing at an aggressive pace, along with robot series of several other designs Eggman had been experimenting with. Really, Eggman supposed he should be overlooking the construction himself, but he was quite confident that those who mechanical nuisances where capable of following out his instructions.

If nothing else they were obedient.

The steady flow of resources the Confederation had provided was keeping the gigantic space bound facility well supplied and Eggman couldn't help but laugh at the irony of it.

The Doom's Eye was feeding the very thing that would destroy him.

There was more being built inside that factory than just the robot legions.

"Doctor, we got it." A holographic message appeared before him and Jet was there, holding another Chaos Emerald in his hand. Eggman grinned from ear to ear.

"Excellent." He declared. "Two down, five to go."

"Remember our arrangement doc." Jet told him sternly, passing the jewel out of sight. "I get to use the Emeralds first. You get these sparklers only AFTER I'm finished with them." Eggman's smile vanished and he folded his arms in front of himself.

"Yes, yes of course." He muttered with a bored expression on his face. "The Fesonian Imperial army had made it very clear you wouldn't work for free."

"We may have run into a problem though." Jet added slowly. "I think Storm botched it. Sonic may have seen him collect the emerald." Eggman paused and ran his fingers through the end of his moustache.

"I see." He muttered. "Well that complicates matters a little. I hadn't planned on him being alerted just yet. Still, I guess that can't be helped. We're just going to have to go improvise. Have Wave keep an eye on blue boy for the time being." Jet smiled grimly.

"Already on it Doc, in fact; that's how she picked up the next interesting wrinkle." Eggman raised an eyebrow. "We've got more competition for these Emeralds. Another hedgehog showed up." The doctor paused, suddenly looked furlong.

"Don't tell me. A dark hedgehog with black and red fur?" Jet looked puzzled.

"You know him?" Eggman put a hand to his forehead and groaned.

"Oh yes I know him. As if this situation wasn't complicated enough, now Shadow comes to their aid?"

"According to Wave, this Shadow guy isn't on their side."

"Really?" Eggman looked a little more pleased. "Well, that hedgehog's motivations are never crystal clear are they? Very well. We'll just have to deal with him later. Continue on as planned for now. According to my robots, the Egg Factory is nearing the final stages of production. Once we have the Emeralds, we're good to go." Jet nodded in reply.

"Roger. Babylon Rogues out."

----------------------------------------------------

-

Curious to see exactly how many alien races there were Hare, Bean and Bark accessed the data bank of general Federation knowledge given to them on planet Chimera. The list of different species went on for quiet a length and separated at some point into sub species and intermixed species and so on. In order to narrow it down they decided to go by the most common.

Humans, surprisingly, were the most common species around; or at least within this spiral arm. Learning that human kind did not originate from Earth was not in itself surprising. It was their wide spread presence across hundreds of different planets that caught the unaware off guard.

The next were the amphibian Fesonians. The Confederation's entire space fleet and army were manned by pure blooded Fesonians. It was stated, the data bank claimed, that if you weren't one hundred percent Fesonian then you couldn't serve in their army.

The Falcons were the third on the list. The bird like beings from Planet Roc were a very military driven society. They weren't picky about who served onboard their ships. In point of fact it wasn't uncommon for unlucky visitors to their territory to be press-ganged into their space fleet.

Unlike the others races who had pantheons coming out of their ears, Falcon religion was fairly simple. They recognised no gods and only one prophet, who they referred to as the 'Voice of Reason.' The Prophets name had been Poola the Wise and was reputed to have founded their capital city of Babylon on Roc.

"What about this planet?" Hare asked, hunched over Bean's shoulder. "I like to know who I'm, doing business with before I set up shop."

The duck brought up the data page for planet Fenrir.

Since it was not in Com-Fed territory, it had not applied to join the Federation. Instead it became part of the Kingdom of Merchants.

Mostly it's religion was Olympian worship, yet tribes in the north worshipped the Viking Asgard.

The regional race was human and the most common were a sub species of human typically referred to as Jotun.

"Jotun?" Amy repeated looking up in a faint look of surprise on her face.

"You know the name?" Bark asked glancing back.

"Jotun is a term in Viking mythology for 'Giants'." She replied, leaning back in her seat.

"Aptly named then." Bean muttered. "According to this, these Jotun guys have an average height of ten feet or more."

It was morning at the weather had turned nasty. Dark clouds came from out of nowhere and the sky opened up, heavy rain falling over the city. Fierce winds whipped the ships anchored in the Soleanna bay and it had all the characteristics of a coming storm.

Events for the Ex Galactic Grand Prix had been postponed as a result and Sonic was stuck on the Blue Typhoon as it swayed back and forth in the harbour.

Actually Sonic was glad the races had been cancelled as he doubted he would have been able to concentrate on the competition anyway.

Something was going on here and he wanted to know exactly what it was. Dark Oak and Tails… Eggman and his Rogues on an Emerald hunt… Shadow's ultimatum… none of it fitted together in Sonic's mind, refusing to make any sense. Perhaps there were still pieces missing from the puzzle. The hedgehog had been sitting in the observation room for some time simply thinking about it.

Thinking not being one of Sonic's talents he eventually grew bored of it; stood up and began pacing the room to give himself something to do. Even then however clouded thoughts of confusion pushed themselves through into his conscious mind.

"What are you doing?" Knuckles asked, finding the hedgehog lying down on a sofa in front of the large screen TV, a pillow over his face.

"Trying not to think." The hedgehog replied with a muffled voice.

"Why?"

"Thoughts hurt." He pushed the pillow off his face and sat up. "Things are getting to confusing to think about them." Deciding not to ask anything more the echidna let it go at that.

It was nearing noon and the storm showed no signs of letting up. If anything it seemed to be getting worse. Chuck had the Typhoon fired down another anchor to the harbour floor to prevent it from swaying back and forth too much. The winds peeked when the crew was being served lunch and the Typhoon swung to the side so much that the food Fang had spent hours preparing was spilled onto the floor.

Even though he was being forced into kitchen duty was part of his 'probationary punishment' the Weasel took his cooking seriously and flew into a fit of rage and had to be subdued by several of Lieutenant Milford's men.

Other crews from ships in the harbour were tying their ships to the jetties and piers using long lengths of chain and rope. Milford ordered his men to quickly do the same as bolts of thunder and lightning began crackling over heavens above.

"Weather can be a downer can't it sports fan." The pirate DJ, Piranha was still on the airwaves. "Events have been cancelled until the storm passes but don't think that means my coverage stops. Oh no. I'm on, giving you twenty four hour coverage of the hero you all want to see; Sonic the Hedgehog." Hare glanced up at the radio. "I'm watching his ship right now. I'll keep you blue hedgehog fans posted for any new developments."

The rabbit crossed over to the windows and glanced out trying sight their observer but the rain was running down the side of the windows too thick.

"I don't believe this guy, he's following us." He muttered. If this guy kept doing this it wasn't going to be long before everyone who revered the 'Destroyer of the Destroyer' was going to be setting up camp outside the Typhoon.

"Hey have you people seen Chris today?" Chuck asked, wandering out onto the bridge scratching the back of his head. "I haven't seen him since breakfast this morning."

"He and the girls went off before the storm hit this morning." Danny replied. He hat his feet up on the console in front of him. "I got a call from him saying they'd taken up shelter in the Soleanna temple. He'll be back as soon as the storm's over."

"Er... guys are we expecting anybody?" Hare asked, still at the window.

"No why?" Bark asked looking back over his shoulder. The polar bear joined the rabbit and the two of them watched a long procession of people move towards the pier the Typhoon was tied on. They looked too organized to simply be a mob of hedgehog fans. They moved in a straight line and many of them wore the armour of the Soleanna royal guards.

"Well this is unusual." Chuck stated, coming over for a look for himself.

The convoy moved up along the dock until it was near the hanger bay door the crew had been using to move on and off the ship. There the procession stopped and waited as if expecting the door to open.

"Rainy days…" Sera yawned, moving out onto the bridge stretching her tail out behind her and rubbing some sleep dust out of her eyes. Being half feline meant she tended to take a lot of naps.

Noticing everyone was crowded as the window she wandered over. After seeing that no body was paying attention to her she glanced over their shoulders to see what the big fuss was about.

"Meow…" She began absently and without even realizing the feline slip blinking in surprise. She squinted at the small crowd of people and watched as two people stepped forward towards the ship. One of them was a large man with a black beard and the other was a woman obviously heavily pregnant.

The fur on Sera's tail and ears stood on end.

"That's… that's the king!" The cat-girl exclaimed. The others blinked as one and looked back.

"The king?" They all asked in unison.

The hanger bay door was opened and the ramp swung down to permit the royal convoy entry. The royal guards when first followed by the courtiers escorting the King and Queen up the ramp and into the interior.

All of them, the royal couple included, were wearing long canvas brown coats to keep the rain off them.

The king was a near impossibly tall man. So tall in fact it became obvious there was a bit of Jotun biological in his parentage. His beard was thick and jet black, eyes hard set in his face with very well defined cheekbones.

His wife seemed just the opposite; she was a good foot or two smaller than him with bright red hair. Her eyes were deep emerald and face oval; skin without a single blemish.

"Presenting, his Majesty King Solomon the fourth of Fenrir." A courtier announced loudly.

"Must you do that every single place I go?" The king asked giving the smaller man a glare. The courier cougher nervously and bowed out of the way. "And do you people mind?" He glanced back at the long collection of people following him. "Can't Ahyra and myself go anywhere without a damn military escort?" He shooed them away and approaching the greeting party from the Typhoon who was standing there looking timid.

"I…I… er…" Chuck began unsure of how to begin. "I've er… never greeted a king before.

"Please, before you do anything promise me that you won't bow or do any of that grovelling stuff." Solomon asked with a grim look on his face. "It was tolerable when I was a prince, but all this is just stupid. My father may have liked it. He adored his 'yes-men' spouting meaningless royal dribble but if I hear one more 'proper royal greeting' I swear I'm going to hit something."

"Behave yourself." Ahyra told him.

"Yes dear."

"Hey what's going on here?" Sonic asked; pushing open the door to the hanger bay at the top of the stairs leading up into the Typhoon's interior. The queen Ahyra held her breath at the sight of them. Sonic paused sighting the royal couple and maintained a faintly interested expression before smiling.

"Yo, how's it hanging?"

"Sonic, you don't talk like that to royalty!" Chuck hissed back at him. The satisfied smile on Solomon's face however refused to waver.

"You must be Sonic the Hedgehog." He started as the hedgehog descended the flight of stairs.

"I hope so." He replied with a sly grin folding his hands behind his head. "If I'm not I'd be disappointing a few people." The king grinned even more intently.

"May I present to you Queen Ahyra of Fenrir." He stepped aside with a dramatic sweep of his large arms. "Your biggest fan."

----------------------------------------

-

The southern people of Fenrir took religion very seriously. In fact, Soleanna was considered to be a place of pilgrimage. Before the storm hit, Chris and the two girls had taken a short tour of the city. It was very Romanesque in terms of architecture, although more rustic and shabby towards the docks and outlining walls.

The royal palace stood at the centre of the city, surrounded by impossible high marble walls and within the came grounds was the grand cathedral that served as the headquarters for the Order of Thunder.

From what Francis had observer the people of Soleanna at least worshipped the Gods of Mount Olympus. Zeus was a central figure in their mythology, although the story was a little different to the old Greek legends on Earth. The Order of Thunder recognised Zeus as their patron god and his image, or their rendition of him, was everywhere.

Banners hung from nearly every wall depicting a man in bronze, Greek style armour with a long flowing red cape. His hair white as snow and eyes blazing emerald green. Despite the heroic look, the artist weaver had depicted the god with a strange round face that lacked a nose.

When the storm hit the priests had been forced to close the main doors, effectively locking Chris, Francis and Helen inside.

"You may shelter within these hallowed walls until it passes." One of them told Chris, who managed to get a message to the Typhoon before the storm cut off their link.

"I guess we're stuck here for a while." Francis muttered to herself, glancing down the cathedral to the small service being performed.

A statue of Zeus stood behind a massive stone alter when a priest in the Order's traditional white robes stood before a small crowd.

"Take to heart children of Fenrir for you stand in the shadow of the protector. As Zeus cast aside his own father for the good of all, so must you cast aside your doubt and fear and raise your spirit. Chaos and emptiness may never come again, for Zeus lit the first Sun and banished the darkness."

"If I wanted a sermon I could have stayed at the Typhoon and listened to Chuck go on and on about jump engines." Francis muttered turning away. "Why can't I ever get stuck in someplace with a bit of life in it?" Chris wasn't listening. His gaze was fixed on the two massive statues overlooking the cathedral entrance.

One of them was Zeus, armed with his spear, holding it aloft before him. The other was a figure Chris wasn't able to recognise. It was a man who bore a similar appearance to Zeus but had large horns growing out the side of his head and a massive third eye in the centre of his forehead. His hands were cloven with talons and chains were wrapped around his shoulders. Tight in his grasp was a trident and the two weapons, spear and trident met to form an arch overhead.

"Say, where's Helen?" Francis asked glancing around.

"She wandered off by herself." Chris replied absently. "She wanted to explore the cathedral while she had the opportunity." Francis blinked in surprise.

"And you let her go of on her own?" She asked him incredulously. "She's still getting used to walking; she hasn't had that gadget on her wrist that long." Chris smiled and shot his friend a glance.

"That's why I let her go off." He said calmly. "She needs to build up some self confidence. Walking something new to her and whenever she stumbles, I'm there to pick her up. I think she needs some chances to fall and pick herself back up again."

"You can be a very cruel person if you want to be Chris." Francis muttered, folding her arms. "Stupid too."

"Stupid?" Chris repeated looking back.

"I mean, here you are standing here admiring the stone work…" She began with an impish expression. "…when a golden opportunity to be alone with Helen is simply passing you by." Chris was silent for a moment and wide eyed before he seemed to vanish, breaking into a run.

Walking as still strange to Helen It was something she hadn't been able to do for her entire life, yet all of a sudden the ability had simply been dropped on her. It felt odd, but not odd enough to be uncomfortable. She wondered briefly what her parents would say if they saw her walking around, but that aftermath of that thought sent a wave of grief running through her and when they finally elapsed the taste in her mouth as bitter.

Her mood had improved considerably since she arrived on the Typhoon but nothing could make her simply forget what had happened.

As if looking for something to occupy her thoughts she glanced up at the wall she was passing by.

The image in mosaic upon it nearly jumped right out at her; a massive display of images that stretched up and down the walls for as far as she could see, a story painstakingly placed there for all to admire.

It seemed a shame and an insult not to read it after the artists took so long and so Helen tried to decipher the mural.

The images told of a time long ago when the universe was ruled by the Elder gods, a set of beings of tremendous and unequalled power. Their leader; eventually became corrupted by this power and these gods began ruling with an iron fist. The injustices they inflicted on the mortal people was made very clear by the imagery.

Helen stepped along as the story continued. The Elder god's children, along with several of the Elder gods themselves, rebelled and a terrible conflict began. The mural depicting the battle was a little obscure and hard to decipher.

Helen examined it for a while.

It showed a planet being ripped apart from the inside and through the hole, a massive hand made of fire was reaching up to seize the planet's moon like a baseball. The gate through which this colossal demon was emerging was being held open by the leader of the Elder gods by use of a talisman of some kind.

"I couldn't help you noticing the murals." A voice began and Helen glanced around to see a priest wander up beside her. He was an old man with a short grey beard, tanned skin and sunken eyes. The top of his head was concealed by the back of his long white frock.

"Yes, I was just … sort of reading the story." She replied looking back up at the image with him. "It's similar to the one we have on my planet, but a little different." The priest nodded in agreement.

"The story of the Titanomachy is told throughout various cultures and religions across the galaxy." He stated.

"The titano...what?" Helen asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The ancient conflict." The priest explained. "Some call it the war for heaven, or the first Ragnarok. Our order refers to this event as the first Iblis Trigger." Helen blinked and looked up at the image again. For some reason, the sight of that gargantuan fiery hand sent a wave of dread passing through her.

"And what is that?" She asked pointing at it. The priest's expression grew sombre.

"Iblis." He replied. "The manifestation of the primordial nothingness from which all existence sprang. According to the ancient writings he is a force of destruction capable of crushing entire worlds between his finger tips." Helen shuddered at the thought and turned her attention to the Elder god leader who was summoning Iblis.

"And him?"

"That is the king of the Titans."

"The Titans?"

"The gods that ruled the universe before Zeus arose to overthrow them and ascend to the throne of Mount Olympus." The priest looked on the verge of launching into another long winded sermon. "This figure is Cronos, the father of Zeus himself. In this image he is summoning the unholy Iblis."

Moving on from this mural Helen continued the story and the Priest commented on it when appropriate.

Before Iblis could be summoned by Cronos, Zeus did battle with his father. The image did its best to make Zeus seem as heroic as possible and Cronos as demonic as possible. Helen wondered if perhaps this was little more than artistic licence on behalf of the order who had the image made.

At the height of the battle Zeus sent Cronos falling down through the gate he himself had opened and directly into the jaws of Iblis. The gate closed behind him and the planet being used exploded. The explosion scene looked magnificent in a mosaic.

"Helen!" A voice called out. She looked around to see Chris running towards her.

"Something wrong?" She asked as he came up to her. The priest wandered off with all knowing smile at the sight of the two youngsters.

"No…" I was just…" He paused, turning a shade of pink. "I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind my company for a while."

For some reason the sour taste in her mouth disappeared and she smiled.

-----------------------------------------------------

-

As if her leash was off Queen Ahyra overwhelmed Sonic with dozens upon dozens of questions. Sonic was left completely dumbstruck by the verbal assault until King Solomon stepped in to try and make the interview slightly more organized.

"My wife had been fascinated with you ever since she saw those broadcasts of your legendary defeat of the Destroyer." He explained. "Until then, nobody put much stock in the old legends but after that…"

Everyone else had gathered around to watch. Sera was keeping herself mostly out of sight. Every time she had met an official of any planet it had been all arranged parties and conference meetings. Considering this trip a break from all that she did not want to run any chances with this.

"Old legends?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow. "What old legends?"

"Well, right up until your intergalactic depute everyone thought the Destroyer simply part of the Titan myth. When that evidence of his actually existence rolled around, people have been revaluating the old stories to se what else might be true."

"Honey, I'm sure Mr. Sonic doesn't want to be bothered with old Jotun country folk lore." Ahyra began with an emotionless expression but some hostility in his voice towards her husband.

"Mr. Sonic?" Amy and Knuckles asked at the same time. Hare put a hand in front of his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

"No that's ok, and please just call me Sonic." Sonic stated quickly trying to ignoring the sniggering coming from several directions. "You were saying… about those legends?"

"Ah yes…" Solomon put a fist in front of his mouth and coughed. "Well, according to legend the Destroyer was only one of the many demons sealed within the abyss.

The weakest of them, but still a formidable force. When you proved his existence the people here and there started becoming a lot more religious for some reason, fearing that if the Destroyer were real; then the other demons might be as well."

Sonic did not like the sound of that.

Krish had been bad enough… but if the legends were true… then there were more like him? And he was supposed to be the weakest!

He shuddered thinking of how insanely powerful some of the other demons might be.

"But we didn't come here to talk about Fenrir folklore." Solomon added quickly, reading his wife's annoyed expression. "Ahyra, why don't you go ahead?"

"Thank you dear…" She muttered with a hostile sideways glance.

"So, what you wanna know?" Sonic asked.

"Why don't we start with everything?" The queen asked leaning forward with a hungry sort of look on her face.

Sonic, now facing a willing audience launched into a story. He started with his first encounters with Eggman when he very young. Amy noted however that the blue hedgehog was adding or dropping little details here and there, embellishing it to make himself look a little more heroic.

She was the only one who knew that however and everyone else seemed to lapping it up.

He had reached the bit when he had stormed Eggman's stronghold to rescue Cream and retrieve the seven Chaos Emeralds when Amy began flipping through a book not looking very interested.

"Was that really how it happened?" Chuck asked whispering back over his shoulder to Amy.

"There weren't THAT many robots guarding the place; let me put it that way." In truth she was more annoyed that so many girls seemed to be throwing themselves at Sonic lately than bored of the story. First had been Sera and her idolization, followed by Wave and her blatant attempts to flirt and now a Queen! That last one stung worse than the others for some reason.

The pink hedgehog looked up at Ahyra. She was a beautiful woman with laughter like silver pearls and a very cheery disposition. Amy had nothing against her and the other two other than the fact they were trying to worm their way into Sonic's heart.

She'd been at it longer than they had. She should have first pickings.

Amy paused, realizing it wasn't in her usual character to be jealous…. But something felt wrong inside…

Ahyra suddenly cried out and fell to her knees, face contorting with sudden pain. Solomon was instantly on his feet rushing to her side.

"Ahyra, what's the matter?" He asked desperately trying to pick her up. Chuck rushed over to help the king carry her over to a seat. Ahyra looked to be a great deal of pain. Chuck laid a hand on her forehead.

"Her contractions have started." He stated. "The baby's on its way." Solomon along with everyone else present suddenly looked suddenly dumbfounded.


	28. Episode 14, part 2

Ahyra was quickly laid on one the floor and Chuck called for towels to be brought it. Solomon began running around like a headless chicken trying desperately to call the outside to send for help.

"The storm interfering with the radio transmission." Milford told him, still trying to get a signal out through the harsh winds that whirled through the air outside.

"I have to get my wife to a hospital. Make it work!" The king looked like he was on the verge of hitting something and given his sheer size, the Lieutenant tried everything he could to avoid being that something.

"It's too late." Chuck called over. "Her water's broken and her contractions are coming too often. We can't move her." Ahyra sat there supported by Sera and Amy as she panted, sweat running down her forehead. Solomon put his hands to his head, forgetting he was wearing his crown and stubbed his fingers. "Go… get some hot water." Forgetting he was a king Solomon darted off obeying the command dashing out the bridge doors.

"What's the hot water for?" Hare asked.

"I don't know." Chuck admitted trying to make the queen as comfortable as possible despite the circumstances. "But for some reason the dads are always asked to get it whenever a Child's born outside a hospital. Personally I think it's just a time consuming chore to keep them out from underfoot." Ahyra cried out sharply. "Easy there."

"Chuck, I think you should let someone else handle this." Amy remarked looking up with a sharp glance. Chuck looked a little insulted. "No offence, but you're an engineer, not a doctor."

"Excuse me?"

"I took a minor course on mother care while studying mythology on that college campus." She explained. "I think I can handle it."

"I'll send for my unit's Medic." Milford added, turning to leave. Ahyra was struggled for breath against her contractions.

"Meow…" Sera started, her large furry ears drooping. "How do you deliver a baby?"

"Painfully…" Ahyra muttered through clenched teeth.

"Sonic, why don't you help the queen with her breathing?" Amy called over. The blue hedgehog looked a little stunned.

"Say what?"

"You heard me. Get over there and held her breath."

"She's doing just fine on her own."

Ahyra cried out again, her breath coming sharp and painful.

"She needs help in timing it so she can avoid catching with the contractions." Amy looked around for more people to help. Hare and Bean made excuses to leave and made a run for it. Bark was quickly about to do the same when Amy grabbed him by the collar of his scarf. "Hold it buster. Get towels, a lot of towels now!"

Milford and his medic came pat the polar bear on their way in.

"But Lieutenant…" The Medic was arguing. "I've never delivered a baby before."

"Well here's you chance to get some experience." Milford replied causally, nearly shoving the man into the room.

Sonic was holding Ahyra's shoulder, looking timid and extremely nervous.

"Just how do I help someone with their breathing?" He asked the pink hedgehog who seemed to be taking charge of the situation.

"Put your chest against her back and breath." She replied as Bark came back to the bridge with several towels for them. "She'll time her breaths with yours." Sonic stared at her with wide eyes. "I kid you not. Now get on with it."

The uncharacteristic authority in her voice almost forced Sonic to comply. He hadn't really been expecting it to work but to his surprise it did help the queen concentrate. By now she looked very uncomfortable.

The medic took a small hand book out of his bag entitled 'The basics of Child-Birth'. At the sight of it the queen looked alarmed.

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The storm still did not show any signs of letting up. It hammered on the stonework of the cathedral, its drumming pattern resonating throughout the large building. Chris sat on the edge of a balcony overlooking the alter. Helen stood. After being given the gift of mobility, sitting felt strangely odd to her.

The two of them had been quiet, simply enjoying each others company. Not a word of conversation had passed between them at all. They had just walked together through the building side by side.

Giving a sermon to the crowd at the alter was the high priest. He was the leader of the Order of Thunder on this Planet. The Order had chapters on several different worlds, each led by a High Priest or Blade. He was a Reptilian with brown scales, wrapped in the Order's white robes with red sashes over his right shoulder and around his stomach. It gave him the look of a roman toga.

"Is this how it always is for you?" Helen asked without looking down. Chris glanced up. "Impossible adventures and the like." She sighed out load. "It doesn't seem normal." Chris grinned widely.

"That depends on how you define 'normal'." Helen relaxed her shoulders before adopting a tired expression. "Are you still thinking about…" He didn't finish the question. She just nodded.

"That's not something I'm likely to forget." She replied. Chris picked himself up and stood beside her. He said nothing, instead he simply provided himself as a shoulder to lean on.

She did not take up his offer.

She went him one better.

"They were herding us onto the transports not long after they landed." She started slowly. Chris glanced around at her half in surprise. "They were literally stuffing us into the cages without regard for our well being."

"Helen you really don't have to…" He began but she cut him off.

"An injured soldier stumbled and fell further along the line. The Confederates kicked him, trying to get him to stand back up. We could all see he couldn't even if he wanted to but they didn't understand that. They brought out something resembling a whip and lashed at him." Helen paused to swallow a lump in her throat. "He was dead by the time daddy reached them when he tried to stop it.

He was chained; he couldn't have put up much of a fight." The sheer effort involved simply to get this off her chest proposed strength that startled Chris. "Momma went to help him but they shot her as she was running. She never even reached his body."

"Oh Helen I'm so sorry." He placed his hands on her shoulders.

Helen was using all the will she could muster not to cry. She had had enough of crying.

"They used them as a message to the others to get back into line. No body complained, not even as they were suffocating people in the overcrowded cells."

"That's enough." Chris gently laid a hand against the side of her face, calling her back from the terrible memory.

"Chris…" Helen began looking distant. "I'm scared."

He placed his hands on her shoulders. "I've got no family. No home and I'm lost, away from the planet I was born on."

"But you're not alone right?" She looked into his eyes and that smile on his face quelled much of the fear running through her.

Chris had been her best friend since

Silenced passed between them as they simply stared at each other. Slowly their faces moved towards on another.

Their lips were on the verge of touching….

"Praise the divine pretender and liar and suffer the wrath of the true authority!" A loud voice shouted high, echoing through the space of the cathedral interrupting them.

A wild eyed human man had pushed his way to the front of the crowd nearly the alter to nearly assault the high priest who was delivering a sermon. Several of the Order of Thunder's knights; men grabbed with white wrapped and shining silver armor rushed out to try and protect the preacher.

The man had short black hair and hadn't shaven in days. His clothes were shabby and torn in several places. In one hand he was holding a short-sword with a blood red hilt below the blade.

"Who the hell are you?" The priest asked but backed off as the man turned on him with the blade held ready.

"Your order is damned." The wild eyed man stated, madness more than clear on his face. "For the chaos rises behind the gates and the herald shall soon declare itself to the galaxy. Zeus will be forgotten as Iblis rises from the pit and Cronos the Titan lord will reign supreme over a new existence. The Iblis Trigger with secure the final change!" The crowd looked horrified at his words. "Come, for you may yet be saved. Cast down the usurper god and return to heed the words of the true creator!"

"Subdue that blasphemer!" The head priest called out and the knights rushed the would be prophet, pinning his arms behind his back; throwing the dagger from his grasp. It clattered to the floor and once it was out of his grip it skidded across the floor until it landed at the feet of the high priest.

"Iblis is coming fools. The Blackest of Doom's awaits all those who stand against the recreation of the universe after the cleansing. Prosperity is a ritual waiting to be enacted and you will all die!" He laughed maniacally as the armored men dragged him off kick and struggling.

"What was that all about?" Francis asked, joining Helen and Danny on the balcony.

The high priest made himself scare from the alter making his way past the confused crowd and through the arch underneath them.

A knight met him there.

"Summon the others." He told the armoured man. Francis leaned over the side of the balcony to hear him better. "I must speak with the other high priests immediately."

"Reverence, surely you're not going to let the words of a drunken man disturb you in such a way?" The knight asked sounding puzzled.

"He said; The Blackest Doom and Prosperity Ritual." The priest replied looking very stern but sounding concerned. "I know what that means. Just do as I have told you and tell no one else other than the high priests."

The knight lowered his head respectfully and made off.

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Fang was alone in the Blue Typhoon's cafeteria. Grumbling loudly to himself with a pair of washing up gloves on he washes the dishes given in by the entire crew. As part of his 'probation' he was being forced to do the cleaning in the kitchen duty all by himself. While the cooking he didn't mind as it gave him a chance to be creative, cleaning was not something he was skilled at.

"How did I go from the underworld's most notorious hit man to a cafeteria worker and forced laborer?" He asked himself angrily, trying to get stubborn burnt on stains off the plates. "It's that hedgehog's fault I know it is! Ever since I ran into him I've had enough but bad luck." He waved the scrubbing brush high, the bubbles flying everywhere. "Well I'll show him. Somehow, someway, I WILL pay him back for this humiliation!"

Without warning a large man bordering on the stature of a giant burst into the cafeteria, a golden crown falling from his head in the process.

"Hot water!" Solomon declared glaring at the weasel. "Hot water now!"

"The baths have their own supply. Go get some yourself." Fang remarked, going back to the dishes. Without expecting it he was grabbed by a large hand and lifted four feet into the air.

"Tub of hot water…" Solomon hissed at him. "NOW!"

Fang saluted weakly.

"Anything you say sir!"

A large metal tub was poured full of steaming hot water and without saying anything in the way of thank you, Solomon wrenched it up and ran; the action pouring some of it directly onto the weasel drenching him from head to toe.

"That hedgehog will pay dearly for this!" He snarled through clenched teeth, brushing some of the matted fur out of his eyes. The glint of gold caught his eye and he looked down, seeing the crown that Solomon had dropped and left behind; an exquisite piece of work that had to be worth a lot of money.

Grinning evilly Fang picked it up.

The king tumbled onto the bridge spilling some of the water over Chuck as he passed by.

"Hot water; got the hot water!" He called out, placing it down with a heavy thud next to Ahyra. The queen was by now in a great deal of pain, crying out every time one of her contractions hit. They were coming more often now. It wouldn't be long now before the child was born.

"Good, now out!" Amy told him. "All you guys, get out now."

Chuck, Milford, Bark and Sonic all made a beeline out of there trying to drag Solomon along with them.

"Accept for you." Amy called to the blue hedgehog. "You're going to help me deliver this baby." The last thing the others saw before the doors to the bridge closed was Sonic's startled and alarmed expression.

Minutes ticked by, followed eventually by hours and all the time Solomon simply paced outside the door, his large feet leaving footprints in the surface under the prolonged pressure.

"What are you guys doing here?" Knuckles asked wandering up with Rouge beside him. "And what's his problem?" He added, gesturing to the king walking around in circles.

"Just where have you been?" Bark asked in reply with a raised eyebrow. Rouge and Knuckles shot each other a quick glance.

"Nowhere special." The echidna stated a little too quickly.

"What's going on in there buddy is…" Not wanting to describe it literally the polar bear scrapped around for few suitable substitute words. "Awkward."

Suddenly there was a loud shout and then nothing. The echidna and the bat looked alarmed.

"One of our visitors is having a baby." Chuck sighed, scratching the back of his head and looking drained. He glanced at his watch. "It's been hours now since it all started." As if acting on cue another scream came from within, this one longer and louder than before.

Solomon held his breath, his face betraying the agonizing anticipation and hatred of the silence.

All the others remained silent, simply staring together at the door; most of them blinking in unison.

Then the sound of the cry of a newborn child echoed out. A loud shrill sound that caused the king's massive shoulders to slump so much it looked like he was going to fall over.

"Don't hold it like that Sonic, that's a baby not a cat." Amy said from within. The king glanced up with new panic in his eyes.

"Why don't we go inside?" Chuck asked, pressing the door controls. The door slid open and the king nearly rolled inside.

Ahyra was lying there where they had left, sweat still rolling down off her forehead spoiling her dress. Sera and Amy were there trying to make her more comfortable. Cradled in Sonic's arms was a tiny infant.

"Well…" The hedgehog began looking as fragile and drained as the queen. "Here you are." He offered the babe to the king who gently passed picked it up. It was so small compared to him that it fitted almost perfectly into his palm like a ball. It was covered in blood and other bits and pieces but even so it was the most beautiful thing Solomon had to behold

"That's the most perfectly healthy baby I've ever seen." Milford's Medic told him. "Although it is my first."

"It's a she, Meow." Sera announced. "Congratulations." Something that looked like tears seemed to be flooding into the king's eyes.

"She…" He began but seemed lost for words. "She's beautiful." He knelt down and showed their newborn mewling child to Ahyra.

The exhausted queen simply nodded with a weak smile.

"So, what are you going to call her?" Amy asked. Solomon blinked and looked at his wife.

"I er… I hadn't really thought of any names."

"Yes you did." The queen replied. "There was one name you wanted to call our child beyond all the others." She smiled. "I found those notes you made under the mattress." Solomon chuckled nervously.

"You don't mind?"

"I'd be honoured if you did." Solomon sniffed back tears and looked down at his daughter. She had stopped crying now, reducing her protests to a snort sniffle.

"My mom died not long ago little one. I hope you don't mind if I give you her name." He held the infant close to him and looked into her sea blue eyes. "Elise." All the baby did was gurgle once. "I'll take that as a yes."

"So that's what all this fuss was about." Fang muttered coming onto the bridge, looking down at the baby princess. "Cute little tyke."

Milford instantly commandeered the Weasel and him and his medic clear up the mess. It still wasn't safe to move the queen so they let her rest there. The storm began to dissipate enough to allow radio transmission out. Even before the signal for help had finished being broadcast the royal Fenrir guard along with some medical staff were banging on the cargo bay doors demanding to be let in.

"All hail the new princess of Fenrir!" The courtiers were bellowing as they tried to take up escort with a blast of trumpets on either side. Solomon smacked one of them around the back of the head.

"Keep it down. My daughter is trying to sleep!"

"Yes your eminence."

"Dear, where's your crown?" Ahyra asked as the royal guards carried her past on a stretcher half surrounded by doctors, a series of umbrella like things held up to keep the rain off her.

"My crown?" The king repeated; then his hands flew up to his head. Finding it gone he looked panicked. "My crown! Where's my crown!" Sonic glanced around at Fang who was in the process of trying to sneak away back into the Typhoon.

"Hold it." The weasel froze and looked back with a nervous smile on his face. "Cough it up."

"I was just bringing it back for him, he dropped it." The weasel protested, producing the golden crown but with clear reluctance on his face handing it back to the king.

"Well that's something that doesn't happen everyday." Chuck remarked watching the royal convoy go often, trumpeters trying to verbally announce the arrival of the new royal family member and getting a fist in the face from the king if they dared.

As they left, several other figures braved the lessening storm to make their way to the Typhoon's open entrance.

"So." Chris began, lifting the long coat off Helen, Francis and himself. "What we miss?"

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Dark Oak liked the armor he wore. It gave his body a defining shape which it had been lacking for some time. The familiar form of arms, legs, torso and head was something to relish. In the deepest depths of his memory Dark Oak remembered how his original form had felt and this existence as the closest he had come to it in how long he did not care to imagine.

The body of the three headed hydra he had adopted for so long he knew now was not what he was supposed to look like, rather the form something or more likely **_someone _**had told him to take.

The memories were shattered and fragmented and whatever was there was hard to decipher. The pieces did not fit and so eventually he gave up trying to figure them out and concentrated on the situation here and now.

The confusion Miles predicted was working perfectly for now. Whatever agents Black Doom had amongst the mortals here were clueless as to what was going on, unable to carry out their orders. The Chaos Emeralds, either in the hands of Sonic or Doctor Eggman, were safe for the moment.

However Dark Oak was certain that Black Doom would not take long to organize a counter measure against their plan of war before too long.

Standing along on the edge of a tall building in Soleanna, the storm still raging around him; Dark Oak tried to use whatever he could remember to predict the move his enemy would take.

Trapped as he was Black Doom could not interfere directly and nor could any of his direct subordinates.

He would have to find some sort of go between to… Dark Oak lost his trial of thought when a flash of golden light came hurtling down from the sky.

He dodged the blast, the energy striking the edge of the stonework sending some of it tumbling down.

Flying out of the darkness with red eyes glowing was Shadow.

Before the General could do anything the black hedgehog grabbed a hold of his arm and placed on the armor on his head a small round metallic device.

Something began probing into Dark Oak's mind, an inquiry, searching for information. Specifically about Chaos Emeralds.

"NO!" Fighting back against the information download from his robotic armour, Dark Oak activated the fire wall protection installed within. The round device was forced off with a few sparks trailing after it. Shadow caught it in his left hand and passed it into his glove.

"Too late." He announced. "I have all the information I need now."

"Yes!" Black Doom's voice declared in his mind. "Now destroy the traitor!"

Dark Oak's sword flew to his grasp and bringing the blade up, the general defended himself from the strike. Shadow's spin attack smashed into the weapon and with a flick of his wrist Dark Oak sent him spinning off to the side.

The general drew his sword back preparing to stab but hesitated at the sight of the mark on the hedgehog's arm. The glowing jagged brand in the shape of an icon the general was more than familiar with.

"You fool." He stated calmly, lowering his sword. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

Shadow ignored him, launching into another strike. Black Doom caught his foot as it soured at him and using the black hedgehog's own momentum to swing him down towards the floor.

Shadow rebounded as he came close to the hard surface and as he shot backup, he grabbed Dark Oak by the shoulders.

"CHAOS BLAST!" The energy discharge smacked the general right in the face and at close range. There was a flash of red and Dark Oak was thrown across the roof to smash with a deafening thud into a wall. Mortar and stonework broke away and collapsed on top of him, burying his arms and legs and denting his armor. A crack line in his armor ran across his neck and down to the side of his nip. Sparks of electricity shot above it, while inside Dark Oak's real body pulsated like an exposed vein.

"What I have done and what I'm going to do is something that concerns only me." Shadow's fingers tightened in one hand before a double Chaos Spear arched through the air, striking the General on the shoulders; his armored plats flaking off with a spray of molten fragments. "You have made yourself inconvenient." Nimbly the black hedgehog picked up the sword that had been thrown from the general grasp. "To both those you betrayed and myself.

You're in my way." He held the tip of the blade over the armor spot that had been weakened, clasping the hilt with both hands. "And I remove things that get in my way."

"What will place itself in your way if you persist will be a force of destruction unlike anything you have ever faced before." Dark Oak told him. "It waits on the other side of the gate. I have seen its face and its intent. It will swallow everything you hold dear and you are helping to open that gate to allow it through." A slow smirk spread itself across Shadow's face.

"Don't talk to me about destruction. I'd tear this entire universe apart myself in order to get what I want." The sword was plunged down.

A hurtling object intercepted the tip and exploded on contact, blowing the weapon apart in Shadow's grip and throwing the hedgehog himself down to the floor, smoke trailing from his body.

Something flew in swiftly, wrenching Dark Oak out of the rubble. Pieces of the generals armor fell away as he was pulled up, leaving his shoulders and half of his true torso exposed.

"Do not let them escape. Kill them both!" Black Doom nearly screamed inside Shadow's head.

"Chaos Spear!" Firing a thunderbolt of gold forward Shadow tried to get to his feet with the smoke in his eyes. The blasts missed completely as the injured general as hauled out and pulled up into the air in the confusion.

"I'm sorry Shadow." A familiar voice announced and Shadow glanced up. Something flew out of the smoke and attached itself to his chest. There was a short bleeping and the metallic device detonated; the explosion throwing Shadow over the edge of the roof.

Unable to stop himself the hedgehog fell down, smashing his body against the walls twice before slamming into the ground.

There he lay for a moment, blood oozing from several cuts over his face and chest.

Slowly he picked himself up, shaking the dirt out of his quills. Once some degree of strength had returned, he stood back up; anger clear in every twitching muscle on his face.

By the time he had returned to the roof both Dark Oak and his mysterious savior were gone. The only trace of them being a few scraps of rubble and the pieces of damaged and scorched armor.

"You let the renegade and the usurper get away." Black Doom did not sound pleased. "For your first assignment, your failure dose not bode well for your future prospects."

"Don't tell me how to get the job done." Shadow replied with hostility. "And I will get rid of them later. All that matters now is the location of the Chaos Emeralds they stole." Slowly he reached into his glove and removed the device he had attached to Dark Oak before. The small screen said: _Data ready. Partially corrupted._

"The firewall inside his electronic armor was able to block some of my download. I know only of the location of two emeralds." The hedgehog scowled. "That's not good enough."

"No it is not." Black Doom agreed sternly. "Only **_TWO_** emeralds is utterly disgraceful. You will do better or you will never get what you want."


	29. Episode 15, part 1

S.O.N.I.C. GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO, GO, GO, GO; LET'S GO!

Episode 15: Sisterly vendetta.

* * *

-

"This is Piranha coming at you deep space denizens on Radio Shark-Bait; the place to be for exclusive coverage of the latest events in the Ex Galactic Grand Prix." The words of the pirate DJ beamed out across Fenrir from a hidden location within the capital Soleanna. "We're halfway through the tournament and two bright stars have dominated the competition.

You all know the current favourite: Jet the Hawk of the Babylon Rogues who so far has humiliated his opponents. With his current standing he's dominating the competition.

The other is that rising champion known to you all as Sonic the Hedgehog. Despite never competing in an Extreme gear competition before he's cutting through the racers like a hot knife through butter.

Both are estimated to face each other in the tournament finals. Will it get to that? And if it does, what kind of clash can we expect?

Here on Shark-Bait transmissions you'll be the first to know.

But first, a word from our sponsor."

The crowds cheered as Sonic marched out to meet the challenger for his new race. This round, the quarter finals of the tournament, was nearly over. The hedgehog was now only one match away from the semi-finals of the Grand Prix and with every challenger he overcame the more his fame seemed to be growing.

More and more people knew his name and his galaxy wide fan base was spreading at an alarming rate with more thanks going to a pirate radio broadcaster called Piranha who was spreading information about them like wildfire. The only way the DJ could have such knowledge of where they were going and what they were doing at all times as if he was following them discreetly around.

This next match was one Sonic was not looking forward to.

His opponent was already waiting for him at the starting line.

"You are going down hedgehog." Hyper told him icily.

A loud bellowing of traditional trumpets and the entire stadium full of people when deadly quiet. The king Solomon and the Queen Ahyra stood before the crowd on the balcony of their first class seats, the king's left arm held high to call for silence.

"Presenting, her royal highness: Princess Elise of Fenrir." He announced by loud speaker to the assembled crowd. The queen held the baby aloft but securely with both hands.

The crowd cheered loudly and enthusiastically. The baby in her arms stirred for a moment, before going back to sleep.

"Meow. She looks like a little angel." Sera sighed, looking at the new born Elise on the large screen monitor that loomed over the stadium.

For once Amy had to agree with Sera. The little baby born onboard in the Typhoon in the middle of a storm did indeed look little an angel. She had been the only to deliver the little tyke.

She had helped fight aliens, robot armies, the military and even once Sonic himself; but that moment had been one of the more stranger experiences of her life.

"Ok people let's get this show on the road." Doctor Eggman was already beginning to the crowd, trying to get the race started. "Today we have too legendary competitors ready to face off in against in this competition of survival of the fastest.

Sister of Hydra legend Talos; put your hands together for Hypermenstra."

"It's Hyper! Hyper god damn it." The girl muttered between clenched teeth, despite the warm reception she got from the crowd.

"Careful now."

"Shut it hedgehog."

"And her opponent, rising star in this tournament, Sonic the Hedgehog." The lizard girls scaly tail seemed to spark erratically in response to the overwhelming roar of support the entire stadium seemed to simply scream into the air. Sonic shot her a glance with a wide smug grin.

"Ok then ladies and gentlemen let's have a look at the course our contestants will be trying to traverse today." A large outline of the course appeared on screen. "After exiting the stadium the race continues north through the city streets until heading out into the forest that spans the many plateaus, valleys and mountains in the region. Our contestants will have to avoid getting lost as the race marks are few and far between.

After that they'll be expected to cross the frozen lake in the north and from there, make their way back to Soleanna. As usual the first to cross the finishing line wins and as for blows below the belt, anything goes!"

"I hope she doesn't take that as an invitation." A voice murmured. Sitting in the stands, Sera and Amy glanced up to see Talos sitting in the row of seats just behind them. The reptilian had his arms folded and his tail was lashing back and forth in anticipation.

"Who are you cheering for?" Amy asked.

"At the moment I don't know." He replied, putting a claw hand to the tip of his dinosaur like snout. "When Hyper was a little girl she was never this competitive, but then she won a kid's tournament back on Hydra and it went to her head. Ever since then she's been pushing herself any all others in the family to be the best. It's becoming a strain on the family." He stared directly at Sonic. "Loosing might teach her a little humility but I pity the poor soul on the receiving end of her wrath."

"Racers, to your starting positions." Doctor Eggman started, raising his flag. "On your marks."

"You are so dead hedgehog." The lizard girl whispered keeping her eyes locked forward.

"Get set!"

"We'll see about that won't we?" Sonic asked with a faint smile.

"GO!"

Sonic was off first, using his faster footing to gain an early start; rocketing forward at a tremendous pace; flying onto his Extreme Gear board sending a shockwave heading back.

Having no intentions of being left behind Hyper was close in pursuit, doing an intense acrobatic flip onto her Extreme gear before flying forward herself.

With a loud crack, she rammed the back of Sonic's extreme gear as they flew out of the stadium. The hedgehog was thrown to the side, spiraling out of control.

Hyper took the lead, souring past Sonic before the hedgehog had a chance to regain control of his board.

"Hey come on, that's got to be against the rules!" Amy declared. Talos shook his head.

"This tournament is no holds bared, remember? Short of killing each other the racers are free to do whatever they like."

Heading north through the streets, darting between the cornered off sections of the city; Hyper was the first to sight the large gate leading out into the northern wilderness.

Sonic was right behind, tilting his weight forward to regain lost ground.

The wind whipping past both of them, they cleared the bounds of the city and soared through the trees.

"Hey come on missy." Sonic remarked, coming up alongside Hyper as they darted too and fro through the massive evergreens that seemed to stretch on forever. "If we're going to have a descent race you might as well have fun."

"Fun?" Hyper repeated, before sliding to the side trying to slam the side of her gear into Sonic. Before she could strike, he somersaulted over her and landed on her opposite side. "Fun is a word for the deluded idiots who waste my time."

"Boy you must be a real thrill at parties." Sonic sighed with levelled eyebrows, before twisting his body forward and using the momentum to send himself further on taking the lead.

"I don't waste my time on them either." Hyper snarled in reply, pulling her tail up. She held it rigid for a moment before cracking it down like a whip with surprising force; smashing against the air friction. The shockwave she produced was enough to send her flying forwards past Sonic to re-take the lead.

From above the tree top, Doctor Eggman's robotic cameras kept track of the two racers and the stadium audience watched in anticipation on the large electronic screen.

"Hey not bad." Sonic remarked, quite impressed with the little trick.

Well if this tournament was no holds bared then how was she going to like this one?

Cupping his hands together, he about faced on his board so he had his back to the way he was going. "Sonic Wind!"

The vortex of energy manifested and without firm footing to protect himself from the inertia he and his extreme gear were propelled past Hyper at a tremendous speed.

This was the first time Sonic had displayed his ability to use the Sonic Wind since leaving Earth. Sighting this phenomenon the people all seemed to gasp as one, sudden astonished vanished cropping up everywhere.

A man in a white robe with red thunder bolts down the sleeves managed a frown. He stood up, pulled the hood up over his head and left the stadium silently. His scouting mission already fulfilled.

Sonic's technique was not perfect.

It had a simply flaw.

He could not see where he was going.

Instead of gaining the lead he desired, somehow he managed to crash through the foliage of several trees, bang his extreme gear against the hard ground until it was covered with dents and nearly loose completely control of the thing.

Smacked around like a pinball Sonic was sent flying off the course.

It was only by grabbed the front end of the board with both hands and forcing the thing to a stop by applying his weight dead centre that he somehow managed to grind to a halt.

"Ok, I won't be doing that again." He muttered, trying not to empty his stomach.

"You're out of your league blue boy." Hyper called to him, racing past.

"We'll just see about that." Sonic growled, forcing himself back up; his rengoku flying forward in a burst of speed.

As they continued north through the forest, the temperature began to drop dramatically. Banks of snow lined the base of the trees, the pine needles holding canopies of white up above the racers heads.

By now they were so far away they couldn't even see the city anymore.

They were nearing the halfway point of the race and Hyper was still in the lead. Just as Sonic was trying to pass her it began snowing softly. Soft but heavy flakes slowly drifting down.

Then it came down a fully fledged blizzard, sheets of white flakes descending down over whatever green lay visible around them. Needles to say the adverse conditions made controlling an Extreme Gear difficult.

Sonic was forced to pull back, but Hyper kept going; forcing her way through sheer force of will; her desire not to loose at any cost.

That was a determination that Sonic admired. A resolute desire, a fiery passion for success. It was to her credit but the girl really did need to lighten up a little.

* * *

-

The orbital defences around Earth were now complete. With both Admiral Baal and Doctor Eggman absent along with the bulk of their forces, the confederation garrison force now concentrated its efforts on crushing the resistance movement; the so called, Hammer of Thor.

Unable to waste precious resources on captive slaves, The Confederates left the humans to fend for themselves in the crumbling ruins of their cities. Most of the Earth's surface was in a state of utter disrepair, almost all major cities reduced to piles of rubble; the civilian population scattered into the wilderness.

The Confederates had scant resources available while out in deep space and refused to spend them on rebuilding captured worlds. If the humans wanted their civilisation back to its former self they were going to have to do it themselves.

Whatever battleships left behind by the advance of the fleet into Com-Fed space were being used to hunt down the Black Arms sect, which Confederate intelligence had pin pointed as hiding somewhere on the planet Mars.

That had to be changed if the resistance was to make any headway.

"Ok listen up." Jericho Mandarin, former commander of the G.U.N federation and now newly dubbed Resistance 'Jarl', announced to everyone assembled inside an abandoned building in the Mystic Ruins.

This had once been the home and workshop of Miles Prowler, also known as Tails, and was considered almost holy by the resistance as it symbolized one of the great champions.

The hedgehog who, they had no doubt, was still fighting the Confederates somewhere out in space.

Jericho had ditched his uniform for a white shirt and metallic armour across his forearms. Most of the resistance agents were modeling themselves after the almost fanatically fearless cat like warriors who had joined their ranks, inspiring them to press forward in their campaign to liberate the Earth.

"The Black Arms still had a sizeable fleet. Not enough to directly challenge the Confederation Garrison force here and their entrenched positions but it's a start." Unable to shave for several weeks Mandarin was already growing a large beard and moustache. "But with those ships searching Mars for them their fleet can't lift off without them knowing.

Its our job to change that." He slapped everything on the table in front of him away and slammed a map down over it, pinning down one end with a combat army knife. The map showed an area of Central city. It was out of date as the city had sustained extensive damage during the invasion but it was the best they had. "The Confederate Newt's have a make shift space port here. It's where their ground patrols for the American coastline come down." Mandarin pointed to the north eastern part of the map which was marked with a red 'X' along with several hastily drawn notes.

"Stuart, it won't be easy but you're to infiltrate this facility and get onto a transport heading up to their orbital defences." The resistance already had photos of the massive defences the Confederates were constructing in the ring around the planet, taken both by Black Arm spies and by whatever observatories where left. "Once inside these defences you are to locate the Central Fleet processor.

According to the Black Arms, it's this processor that keeps the regional ships in communication with their Coordinator Emperor."

"Do I destroy it?" Stuart asked. Hardly a warrior, Stuart was one of the few who did not thrown himself into they 'Nordic warrior theme' the resistance was adopting and settled for less conspicuous garments that battle armour and war axes.

"No, that would alert their Emperor and their fleets to our operations." Mandarin replied. "You're to scramble the data flow, misdirecting their ships away from Mars. This will give the Black Arms Fleet a chance to take off in total secrecy."

"I can probably hurt them a lot while I'm up there." Stuart ventured.

"I know and its pains me to pass the opportunity up, but at this moment in time we'll just have to settle for the invisible victory." Mandarin managed a grim smile. "Besides, do that and they'll cease all transports between their defence line and the Earth. You'll be stuck up there." He paused, studying the expression on his agent's face. "I don't send my men on suicide missions so don't get any ideas. You're much more valuable to the resistance alive than dead. You depart at 0600 hours tomorrow."

Stuart waited until the other resistance leaders and operatives had left the room, keeping his eyes fixed on the commander.

"Was there something else?" Mandarin asked raising an eyebrow.

"Just a little thing that's been bothering me." He replied pushing his spectacles up the bridge of his nose. "When the Newts first invaded, you were so adamant about cooperation with Sonic and his group. Yet when one of them offered to help, you were prepared to flatly turn him down." Jericho mandarin set his face into a rigid frown in response. "In the end it was only the lack of options that prompted you to concede."

The commander straightened up and folded his arms behind his back, sighing loudly.

"What did he do to you to inspire such hatred?" Stuart asked.

"He himself?" Mandarin asked. "Nothing. He did not pull the trigger personally, but his hands are still stained with the blood of hundreds of people and perhaps thousands more. His very existence is a product of evil and eventually to evil he will return."

Across the gulf of space, Shadow opened his eyes; a feeling of perpetual chill coming over him.

For the moment, his orders were to wait. Black Doom was awaiting the right moment to make his move. Against what and for what purpose Shadow was not one hundred percent clear but cared very little either way. So long as Black Doom did as he was promised whom he asked Shadow to destroy was irrelevant.

The ARK was now in orbit around a plant on the outskirts of Merchant Kingdom territory.

The merchants who ran this region of space were armatures when it came to security. The colony sat within the territory and hardly a single ship had come by to protest their presence. That either meant they had nothing capable of matching the colossal station or they simply couldn't be bothered.

Despite the vow he had made and mark on his arm, Shadow was not without doubts. Black Doom was a shadowy character with unknown motivations and Shadow had no physical evidence that he could do what he claimed.

"He is the master." The Fesonian crew serving aboard the station would reply each and every time Shadow asked him about him. "He is our lord and our god and you are blessed by him Commander." As if it was a rehearsed answer that was what they repeated over and over again, word for word.

This level of devotion went beyond religious blind faith. This, Shadow suspected, was something far more sinister.

To find some solitude he retreated to the cold interior of the colony and stood on the lone catwalk above the massive jump-engine that the Professor had hidden from the military decades ago.

There was much about this place Shadow did not understand yet for some time he had deluded himself into thinking he knew it better than anyone. Black Doom's knowledge on this colony surpassed his by leaps and bounds.

"I don't get it Gerald." The dark hedgehog muttered to himself folding his arms over his chest. "All this subterfuge… all this trickery… all this deceit…why did you tell me about Black Doom from the beginning?" The machinery below did not answer. It continued its low pitched hum as if he hadn't spoken at all. The gaps in his memory, of precious time spent aboard this colony before the massacre stabbed at him like relentless knives.

What had Gerald taken away when he whitewashed his mind? What memory could possibly be so dangerous or damaging that it had to be removed?

Well, it didn't matter. Shadow was on the right path now. At least... He hoped it was the right path. It held promise of reward and restoration beyond anything he could ever have imagined, but also it held possibility of disaster.

A nagging voice of doubt… or perhaps reason… argued restlessly in Shadow's mind that something was not right here. Information was required; more information than the mere scraps he had.

He could not feel Black Doom's eyes upon him. The demon like being's attention was obviously somewhere else.

"I am leaving for a short excursion." He told his second in command, A Fesonian Confederate called Falon. "I will not be long. Remain here until I return."

"As you command." The Fesonian replied as the hedgehog passed him by.

There was only one person alive from whom Shadow could get any answers regarding Black Doom. And that someone he had failed to kill less than a few days ago.

"Chaos…" He started, holding up a hand into the air. "Control!" His body began a green haze before it blipped out of existence.

Passing through the ether of power that exists above and beyond the concept known as reality, Shadow moved with almost instantaneous speed. The range of a Chaos Control teleportation is often limited and even with a Chaos Emerald in ones possession, a traveler can only move a certain distance.

Luckily however Shadow's destination was nearby.

His physical form remerged and came together in the Nordic forest that spanned the northern continent of the planet Fenrir. From the cliff ledge a few paces away, Shadow could see a sprawling aqueduct ridden city. Soleanna.

"I know you're there. You couldn't have gotten far." He announced into the cold wind. "I have questions that need answers. And you were always so good as answering questions Tails."

* * *

-

The screech of metal against metal ceased for a moment, the bring sparks from the cutting torch came to a stop and the workshop was left dark again. The damaged section of violet battle armour dropped away from the humanoid metallic frame sitting in the throne like seat, a single green eyes staring down at the fox doing his work. Miles adjusted the goggles over his eyes before fitting the new piece of armour into place.

"This is the last one." He stated, bring the welding torch forth. Sparks began to fly away illuminating the room and the many pieces of engineering equipment scattered cluttering it.

Dark Oak's claws scrapped loudly against the ends of the arm rests as the white hot metal pressed against the organic body inside his armour. The attachment only took a few moments but the pain was nearly unbearable.

"There." Miles said, removing his goggles and standing back. Dark Oak took a few minutes to mentally numb himself and pushed himself up, testing the flexibility of his arm. "How dose it feel?"

"Better." He replied then looked the fox directly in the face. "And now that the repairs are finished, I think we should discus this rouge element which has shown up." Mile bit his lower lip. He had been dreading this conversation.

"I still can't believe it. Shadow of all people. Just how did Black Doom recruit him?"

"He's a devil with a silver tongue. Who knows what kind of lies he filled the hedgehog's head with." Satisfied with the repairs, Dark Oak folded his arms in front of his chest. "I don't where Shadow got that device, but it took some information on the locations I stashed the Emeralds at. I managed to ward him off before he learned too much but at the very least he knows where two of the Emeralds are."

"Damn it." Miles snarled, baring his fangs. "In a single move Black Doom's put us almost right back to square one."

"We may have to go ahead and warm them ahead of schedule." Dark Oak told him. Miles began pacing, looking as if deep in thought.

"We're not ready and neither is Sonic. The two other champions haven't made themselves known yet."

"I think one of them has." Dark Oak muttered, kicking away the remains of his damaged armour.

"Shadow?"

"He's been Sonic's rival since they first met has he not? I can think of no better candidate." Loathe as he was to admit it and to acknowledge the situation, Miles knew it made sense. His loathing for Black Doom's machinations was growing ever stronger with each passing moment.

"Then what of the third?" He asked. Dark Oak just shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine." He stated. Miles muttered something inaudible and began pacing again. "So what do we do now?" The fox was silent, lashing his tails against the floor like a broom before he looked up.

"Two Emeralds aren't going to do Black Doom any good. He needs all seven present with the confrontation occurs, his plan won't work with anything less than the whole set.

Sonic's doing just fine with the one you sent him and we can keep an eye on him as long as he's in that tournament."

"And the Babylon Rogues?"

"If they want to open Prometheus' garden then fine. That's not our business. It's Eggman we need to take interest in. He's been useful in effecting the chaos we needed but I think its time for a change." Miles stopped pacing and suddenly he began to smile. "I think it's time we let the good Doctor in on our plans." Dark Oak looked the fox over skeptically.

"Are you certain?"

"We already know he plots with the Fesonian resistance against Doom's Eye, this will give him more incentive; not to mention keeping Black Doom's attention away from Sonic for a while."

"You're being too cautious Miles." Dark Oak warned him. "All this playing for time is going to get us nowhere. If we expect to win this conflict we have to go on the offensive." Miles nodded.

"I know. It's time we start organizing both a defensive strategy and a plan of attack." Something equivalent to a spark of satisfaction gleamed in Dark Oak's single glass eye.

"Now that is what I like to hear."


	30. Episode 15, part 2

**Planet Cyclops: Combined Federation of Interstellar States territory: **

Confederation ships were sighted in the vicinity of Cyclops defenses by the early warning system. A small fleet of three battle ships and five cargo ships, making straight for the planet.

The com-Fed security forces were baffled. Cyclops was a fortified industrial world where the space force of the Federation was heavily entrenched. At minimum it would take half the Confederation space fleet to take this planet and all they were sending were eight ships? Where they trying to get themselves killed?

Several of the Confederation battle ships shot in first, drawing the fire of the guns away from the cargo ships as they made their way forward.

Orbiting space stations were the first to open fire; sending a barrage of lasers straight at the approaching vessels. Two Predator class space ships, the Scarab and the Wyvern took off from the planet's surface to reinforce the defences.

As the Confederation ships came within range a quick victory was expected. That was not the case.

Two cargo bay doors on the side of the first transport opened up and a metallic harness was pushed out. On the far end, sitting there with a large laser cannon mounted onto the shoulder was one of the Doctor's new marionette mech. It held the cannon in both hands, the energy charging in the collector on its back. Once enough charge had been built up a massive burst shot forth.

It arched across the reach of space, striking one of the Predator class ships across the bow. The Wyvern toppled back by the strike, falling back into the planet's gravity well; its engines flickering on and off.

"What the hell was that?" The commander on the orbiting station asked, watching the flaming wreckage fall past the station's line of sight. "All orbit guns, concentrate your fire on the cargo ships. The battle ships are a diversion!"

Moving back into a defensive position, the Scarab tried to make up for the loss of its sister ship by deploying its small fighters, dozens of vessels launching from the vessel's underside.

The Confederation battle ships moved to intercept, flying in-between the approaching cargo ships and the defence line; acting as a shield.

Before the Com-Fed forces could stop them the Cargo ships were in orbit, their space side doors opening to allow the Marionettes blasters out. In a display of tremendous firepower several stations were sent plummeting down towards the planet's surface

"Fleet holding orbit sir." The Confederation officer reported. "60 of enemy defences destroyed."

"Excellent." The admiral replied. "These new Mech arsenals are more than I had hoped for.

Have the battleships keep the Com-Fed space fleet off us while we prepare the drop-ships.

Send in some more of the Doctor's new toys and let's see if our Emperor's investment in the human paid off."

"Aye sir." The hanger bay doors were opened on every larger cargo ship and round vessels coated in anti-atmospheric friction armour were pushed out by large robotic arms. Once the ships moved into the position necessary for orbital drop the ships were released and half a dozens of them fell into the planet's atmosphere.

Their mission was not to conquer Cyclops but rather to destroy the synthesizer factories and space sports. A good deal of fuel for Com-Fed's space fleet was made here, along with parts for several Predator class battle ships.

If the productive and exporting capabilities of this world were destroyed it would cripple the Federation's ability to repulse their invasion fleets.

Ground to orbit laser guns opened fire as soon as the drop ships were within range, several of them being struck down before they could activate their shields.

Most of them however broke through the cloud cover on the northern continent and made contact with the ground, spraying up huge clouds of dirt and smoke into the sky.

Com-Fed infantry responded almost with lightning fast speed; their forces marshalling expecting a force roughly the same as their own.

They got a huge surprise when mechanically giants in jet black armour began marching out of the craters, large laser cannons held high; blasting everything in sight. Entire scores of soldiers were wiped out in an instant or crushed underfoot as the giants moved in formation towards the towering factories protected by entrenched infantry and turrets.

Crabmeat Mech's, Eggman's latest version of a siege engine, came out behind them; moving slower on their arched legs. Five lumbering behemoths moving towards the walls of the factory city.

"Fall back, fall back!" One of the soldiers cried out. "Fall ba…argggh!" He was silenced as the large foot of a Marionette came crashed down on him, his putty like remains stuck to its heal like a piece of chewing gum.

Once they were within firing range of the city, ten of them lined up and one by one readied their weapons towards the wall; preparing to fire.

A projectile the size of a bus slammed down through one of their number, caving the head in and tearing its way through the body before crashing into the ground. The body of the mech swayed for a moment and then toppled back, exploding before it hit the ground.

The remaining nine machines looked up, detected a new hostile unit.

Something was silhouetted by the planets sun, a humanoid shape with large bird like wings.

The wing span was over thirty foot wide, each feather gleaming like the surface of polished metal. The sunlight shone off the armour surrounding the angel with a bright white glow that made it look like something descending from heaven itself. A bright light shone from the centre of its head and a laser beam arched around like a sword blade, slicing two Marionettes in half; the mech's detonating in a spray of fiery clouds.

Holding its adapted projectile weapon in one hand the Diablon came swooping down out of the sky.

It flew down just over the ground, throwing a fist into the head of another Marionette; which was sent flying by the sheer force. As the machine fell back, the Diablon twisted itself around to face the two robots raising their laser rifles towards it. The Diablon's gun came up first, two shots fired before the Marionettes could react; the projectiles tearing out the chest plate armour and destroying their mechanical insides.

No matter how advanced these new Mechs where, they could not match the Diablon in combat.

The Confederation admiral watched in mute horror as his deployed machines vanished; exploding one after the other. The Diablon ploughed through them.

It was faster.

Stronger.

Could take which as much punishment and was able to out pace them at every turn.

Before too long the invasion force was a smoldering pile of rubble at the feet of the red machine. Slowly it turned its massive head to face the sky and with a loud scraping around of metal against metal its wings spread out either side.

"Get us out of here!" The admiral ordered but by then it was too late.

The Diablon was souring up through the atmosphere towards them; the thrusters that the Com-Fed technicians had installed the backside of its legs sending it rocketing up past the influence of the gravity well.

With a mute sonic boom it burst through the stratosphere and hovered above the planet, facing the Confederation ships that were attempting to bring themselves around to flee.

The Diablon's eyes glowed bright neon blue.

It could let them go.

They were no match for the Diablon in their present state.

"Its only one Mech. Destroy it!" The admiral ordered, slamming a button down on the side of his seat.

The Marionettes with the energy discharges all began to extend from the ships. They never got a chance to fire. The Diablon's laser flashed across their hulls, breaking the vessels apart in a display of fire that was visible from the planets surface.

"I don't give second chances." Okida muttered out load.

The Com-Fed space fleet wasted no time in establishing a presence around the planet to ward off any further incursions. Once the safety of Cyclops was assured, a salvage operation began.

The remains of the Marionettes and CrabMeat's which had fallen in battle were taken away to be studied.

This was the first time advanced robotics technology had been used a militaristic weapon. Federation scientists had no idea where this technology came from or how the Confederates had gotten a hold of it.

"They're called Walkers." Okida declared, giving an address to the assembled heads and bigwigs of Com-Fed science, military and tactical operations. "Sometimes we call them Mech's or Heavy Infantry. On my home world, most of the recent wars were fought using these machines.

Some were piloted and others were controlled by a computer brain."

"Are you telling me you people developed this technology before you invented a way of travelling in space?" A skeptical general asked.

"No." Okida replied sternly giving him a hard stare. "We learned how to build them on our own after a while, but this knowledge was gained by examining the remains of Mech's taken from our enemy.

We were at war with an organization called the Eggman Empire. Its leader was a man called Doctor Ivo Robotnik, or just Doctor Eggman."

"Eggman?" One of the leading minds in Federation technological development repeated. "You mean the Eggman who acts as the overseer for the Ex Galactic Grand Prix? The Dooms Eye's latest general?" Okida nodded in response.

"When we learned of an impending Confederate invasion, we joined forced with the Eggman Empire to expel them.

Eggman however betrayed our plans to the invasion force commander, Admiral Baal. He helped them wipe our defences and conquer our planet so they could use it a fortress and supply depot. In exchange he was given regent command of Earth and a place within the Confederation's elite." He flipped a switch on the podium in front of him and a screen lit up behind him, displaying the wreckage of a marionette that had remained mostly intact.

"Eggman never deployed this particular variation of Mech on Earth yet I recognise his handiwork. The only conclusion I can draw from this is that with access to the abundance of resources that the Confederation had been able to acquire, Doctor Eggman has created a production line of Mech's specifically designed for destroying Com-Fed's military force."

-

* * *

Snow blew out in all directions as Hyper shot through the pine needles of a tree, back flipping with her Extreme gear through the air before flying down through the air towards the ice of the frozen lake.

Sonic was a millisecond behind her as the two racers began to cross the massive lake, which was frozen from one side to the other, throwing up clouds of vapour in their wake.

The cold wind wiped past them, stinging their eyes to look directly forward.

Sonic tried to pass, only to have Hyper's Gear slam into hiss with a loud cash and a pray of sparks.

The hedgehog nearly lost balance, before managed to back off in time loosing more ground than he intended.

"What the racers don't know is that I took the liberty of installing a few more of my surprises under the ice." Doctor Eggman announced to the crowd, pressing a button on his wrist watch.

Sonic glanced up head as the ice further along began to crack and splinter, pieces of it being thrown up into the air. There was a loud wrenching sound and several large metallic pillars rose up from the surface. There was a mechanical shunting of turning gears and pieces of the pillars pealed back to reveal hidden machine gun turrets.

The first targeted Hyper, sending a succession of shots her way. She dodged them expertly, somersaulting while twisting through the air over the stream.

Sonic kept his head down low, souring under the streams. He threw his feet forwards, ending his board on ahead as he back flipped into the air. Once he was in the perfect position he curved his body into a ball and started spinning.

Momentum gathered as he hovered there before he rocketed forward with an echoing sonic boom. His attacked smashed into one of the turrets, tearing it to pieces. Ricocheting away he struck the second and then the first in succession, ripping them out with each before graceful pirouetting through the air to land back on his Extreme Gear.

"Cuts no ice." Hyper called after him with an unimpressed look on her face.

There was a sudden loud cracking and up head a giant knife blade lanced up into the air.

"No, but that might." Sonic muttered as the thing began slicing itself way through the ice towards them like as sharks fin through the water.

Both racers darted around it as the thing sliced between them, carving a gigantic scar in the ice.

From the left, another blade lanced up like an obelisk and then rocketed forward trying to cut across their path. It came narrowly close to the front of Hyper's board, nearly slicing her across the side before it disappeared under the ice.

"Forget rules of competition, Eggman is trying to kill us!" Sonic added as another five rose up one after the other in a straight line behind them. Like a rocket moving forward they shot at them, slicing the ice as they went.

"Now would I do a thing like that?" Eggman asked with a feigned innocent expression watching the events play out on the large screen monitor. "Well... maybe a little."

Sonic pasted between two of the blades, their edges slicing off two strands from his fused quills.

Hyper was not so lucky. While she was able to dodge the full strike, her gear was slashed across the side ripping out several wires and pieces of metal. She swayed as he board had difficulty maintaining itself. The blade carried on before all five sunk into the ice leaving what looks like giant claw marks in its surface.

She lost ground and Sonic managed to catch up.

"I'm not loosing this race hedgehog." She snarled at him.

"Maybe you should take a pit stop." He told her with a smirk.

She took a swing at him with her tail trying to hit him square in the face but nearly unbalancing herself to crash onto the ice.

"I've worked my entire life to get this far." She hissed almost like a lizard. "I won't be stopped by some damn upstart who isn't worth the air time!"

"Now look here you… say you hear something?" The hedgehog's ears pricked up and he looked back.

The large cuts in the ice Eggman's traps had made had already done too much damage and now the entire sheet of ice covering the lake was beginning to crack. Giant sprays of icy water were rocketing up from below as cracks spread through the ice, slicing underneath the two racers faster than their Extreme gears could go.

A low groan echoed up from the water underneath as the surface began splintering and sinking as it broke apart.

"Aw crap!" Sonic shouted as the ground beneath them gave way.

A slab carried Hyper away from the side as the blue hedgehog faced falling into the cold water underneath. Grabbing hold of the side of his Rengoku, he threw his weight forward; the action pausing his body and his body to start spinning as one. As the ice swung up, he punched a hole right through it and carried on going; spinning through the air almost uncontrollably until he landed with a thud on the lake's banks.

The back of his Extreme Gear hit the ground, trailing sparks for a short distance before the board propelled itself back into the air again.

"And both contestants are on the home stretch, with Hyper trailing behind Sonic who has just managed to gain a sudden lead." Eggman told the crowds.

Amy and Sera was almost nearly on the edge of their seats as the large screen showed the two zigzagging racers sour back towards the Soleanna city limits.

"Ok girl, you want to win?" Sonic shouted back.

"Of course I do!" She screamed into the wind, brushing some of her hair out of her eyes.

Sonic shot her a wide grin.

"Then let's go!" He slammed his foot down on the front of his gear, the action throwing him forward with a burst of speed.

Hyper snarled angrily and brought her tail up. She held it rigid for a second before whipping it back. Cracking the whip, she was frown forward by the shockwave until the two of them were traveling at a fantastic speed as they entered the streets of the aquatic city.

Neck and neck they neared the stadium and the finishing line.

Hyper was forced to admit to herself in that moment that Sonic was a better racer than she had given him credit for. He was pushing her to her limits in this one race and despite herself, she was actually enjoying the struggle. It was testing her, challenging her to push past all her preconceived ideas and succeed.

Glancing to her right, she watched Sonic wink at her before throwing his entire body weight forward and somersaulting up into the air by his board to do an unimaginable acrobatic spin that pushed him forward with a burst of speed.

Unable to copy, at least in time, she was left behind as the hedgehog blasted across the finishing line.

"And the winner, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Eggman declared and the crowds once again went wild.

Sonic's gear came to a sudden halt, nearly throwing him off it. Stunned into disbelief, Hyper didn't stop; crashed over the finish line and into the ground unceremoniously.

"Oh dear." Talos muttered putting a scaly hand over his eyes. "She's going to have somebody's eyes out this."

Sonic flipped his board up as paper confetti began raining down from the crowds in the stadium.

Carefully he walked over to Hyper. The lizard girl looked up and met his gaze. He smiled and offered her a hand up.

"Truce eh?" He asked.

"I lost?" Sonic nodded once. "No… I put so much into this competition… how… how can I loose?"

"Babe, haven't you heard the phrase 'it's not the winning but the taking part that counts?'" The hedgehog began pulling her up anyway. "Don't try to pull one on me; I saw the look on your face a moment ago. You were having so much fun then that you could lost the first preliminary and it wouldn't have mattered."

Cursed as she was to agree with anything he said, everyone word he was speaking was the absolute truth. "So whatya say? Wanna try having fun instead of being miserable?"

She looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face, mouth agape in apprehension.

The girl looked away towards the stands the cheering crowds, wondering for a brief moment what it would be like for them to scream her name instead of Sonic's.

It was about then that it wouldn't have been a good enough reward for all the effort she'd put in.

She glared back at him, forging a sly grin.

"You'd better look out for me next time." She whispered in the most threatening voice she could manage. Sonic shuddered involuntarily.

"You have such a way with women Sonic." Knuckles sighed coming up to the hedgehog.

"Whatever you do, please don't repeat that to Amy." Sonic begged him.

"She didn't kill you…" Talos began in utter amazement as he followed behind the Echidna. "Just what have you done to my sister?"

"Nothing really." Sonic stated quickly trying to look innocent.

"Well whatever you did, thanks. I've been trying to get this little nightmare to lighten up for years." Realizing he's said too much, Talos clamped a hand over his mouth. Hyper however wasn't listening.

"Sonic… why is she looking at me like that?" Knuckles asked, looking uncomfortable under Hyper's gaze. The lizard girl was gazing at him in a very possessive sort of way. It an almost hungry stare that a predator might give its prey before striking it down.

"Clearly you haven't had much in the way of experience with girls." The hedgehog muttered with a sly grin as he walked away with his gear tucked under one arm.

"Back off girly he's mine!" Rouge declared, butting in suddenly seeing instantly that her 'territory' was being challenged.

"We'll see about that." Hyper snapped in reply. You could almost see the hostile sparks zapping between their eyes as they growled at each other like rapid pit bulls.

Seeing them go at it like that, Amy cast a look towards Sera. Swallowing her pride the pink hedgehog put a hand on the cat girl's shoulder.

"Look… I know we didn't get off to a very good start; but I'm wondering if we could be friends anyway?" Sera looked back.

"Meow?" She asked questioningly, but then smiled almost evilly. "We're both going to try to go after that blue hedgehog's heart though aren't we?" Amy sighed and nodded, but then managed a smile of her own.

"Ok, but let's make it a friendly competition though."

"May the best gal win."

Sonic was passing by the stands towards them when without warning a man pushed through the crowds, jumped past stadiums security and tackled Sonic to the ground. They rolled a short distance and the man pinned him down.

He was old like white hair and wild eyes that were glowing a strange red light. His clothes were little more than rags, torn and ripped in places and he smelt terrible.

"Get off me!" Sonic cried but the old man was stronger than he looked, keeping the hedgehog pinned to the floor.

"Destroyer of the Destroyer is marked by destiny as the catalyst of change. You will come to he who patrons you through fire and war, death and destruction for you will be the hail bringer of the end." He whispered through cracked dried lips.

"The lord whom the traitor, Zeus, betrayed comes ago, the herald of the great un-maker. Iblis will come, and Iblis will destroy!" He raised his hand and showed the pinned hedgehog a mark etched into his skin. A jagged circle that curved in around itself like a snail shell.

Sonic stared at it. It was the same mark he had seen before on Shadow's arm. "I am here to deliver a message." The crazy eyed man whispered.

"Beware Iblis Trigger, precursor to Mephiles, cower in fear for the Ritual of Prosperity draws ever closer; the time of release and restoration."

Three will meet on the chosen battleground, but only the un-maker's chosen will walk away!"

Knuckles tried to wrench him away but as he did so, the old man about faced and slammed a kick into the Echidna's face knocking him back.

Two stadium guards tried to apprehended him, but he dealt with each of them with ease before vanishing into the crowd being chased by security.

"Sonic, Knuckles are you two alright?" Sera asked.

"Hand me a tissue please." Knuckles muttered, holding a hand over his bleeding nose. Sonic just dusted himself off.

"That's the second time someone's called me 'Iblis Trigger'." He muttered. "And I've seen that mark before. Just what the hell is going on?"

-

* * *

With the race over, the royal family retired back to the privacy of the palace with the baby princess Elise asleep in the queen's arms. Ahyra was hogging all the time one could spent with the infant and Solomon was left on his own.

He retired to his study to collect his thoughts, organizes his papers and continue work on this fictional series he was writing.

Unbeknownst to anyone accept himself, Solomon had published action/adventure books about a farmer on a low grade planet being thrust into the middle of an inter galactic war.

Written under an alias to maintain some level of privacy the first books had already sold like hot cakes and currently Solomon was working on the fifth and final one, where the hero died, sacrificing himself to save his planet and ascending to the hall of Valhalla. It was an ending he'd been building up to since book one and was pouring every ounce of his writing skill into it, not missing a single detail.

He was in the middle of describing the martyrdom scene when there was a knock at his study door. Not wanting for his secret book to be discovered, Solomon quickly put his computer into standby mode.

"Sorry to disturb you my lord…" A human butler said, stepping through the door and giving a short bow. "But there is a monk is here to see you."

Solomon glanced up with an expression of puzzlement clear on his face.

"A monk?" He asked tapping his finger on the keyboard. The steward nodded.

"He bares the robes of the Order of Thunder. He gave me this." He lifted his right hand, showing the king the amulet he held.

Solomon stared at it, his eyes widening and his tapping finger freezing rigid.

There was a circular but jagged mark etched into the circular bronze surface. A mark he recognized all too well. "He told me you would know it."

"Oh yes." Solomon breathed slowly and breaking out in a cold sweat. "Show him in, then close the door behind you. We're not to be disturbed." Reading the expression on the king's face the steward gathered that something was wrong but decided it was probably not in his best interests as to ask what. He opened the door and a hooded man in a white robe stepped forth, his face hidden by the cowl. All that could be seen was the end of a beard coming down over the front of his chest.

The steward handed the amulet back to the robed man and left, shutting the door after him.

Silence gripped the room for several moments.

"I didn't have to allow an audience you know." Solomon stated coldly.

"Yes you did." The monk replied frankly. "You recognized the mark.

That I come to you now means only one thing and you know it." The king placed a hand over his fingers, fingers arched upon his brow.

"I'm happily married. My daughter was born only a few days ago. Why now?"

"We are not doing the choosing." Was the soft reply. "Perhaps it is the will of almighty Zeus, perhaps the time set by the start of the villainous Cronos. I can not say why or how, but the fact remains that events have been set in motion that can not be altered."

"I praise Zeus publicly because of the culture I govern, but like all Jotun I worship Odin." The king reminded him sternly. "I do not recognize any authority your god may have, regardless of what I might say to the people."

"Then let me put it in a way you can understand." The monk started. "The first of the three winters has come. The winter of winds we already endure, the winter of wolves will come next and the bloody winter of swords will follow shortly after.

You know what that means, worshipper of Odin. You know what it heralds."

Some of the color drained from Solomon's face.

"Are you people certain?" He asked looking quite frail. The monk nodded solemnly.

"Believe me we wish we were not." Solomon took a deep breath, held it; then slumped his shoulders. "The Black Doom is moving and your Ragnarok will not be far behind."

"The legends are true then?"

"It began with the destruction of he who destroys." The monk carried on. "He who strikes down the Destroyer is marked by fate as the trigger of change and by the great un-maker himself."

"Sonic…"

"He will face two challengers and the three will confront each other on the battlefield of destiny. A defender of the past, a defender of the present and a defender of the future.

He must be ready for that conflict. The Ritual of Prosperity will come to pass if he fails and he may loose his soul." The hooded man looked up from underneath his cowl. "Your daughter may also pay a hefty price." Solomon looked panic stricken, a sudden pang of intense anxiety stabbing at his heart.

"No..." He breathed. "Not her, anything but that!"

"She is marked Solomon." The monk stated calmly. "If I could change that I could but I can't.

This is not a threat my liege, but if you value the safety of your child you will bring the Iblis Trigger to us." The monk turned to leave. "You know where to find us when you make your decision." And then he left, leaving the king staring down at his deck with wide and frightened eyes.


	31. Episode 16, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 16: Gaia

* * *

-

His experiences over the few years not withstanding, the mode of transportation Miles used had remained unchanged. Flight, especially for a ground based mammal, was something of a thrill as addictive as any drug and many more times as enjoyable.

On patrol through the night air of Soleanna he was supposed to be on the look out for anything out of the ordinary. Instead he simply flew along in a half daze, a wide smile refusing to leave his face.

Storm the Albatross, who just happened to be taking an early morning stroll to clear his head and wonder just how he was going to get Jet's errand done, glanced up and saw the flying mammal pass overhead. Since that was such a rare sight on any planet he kept on walking in a stunned daze until he slammed his face into a wall.

Dawn was approaching when the smile left Mile's face and he glanced to the side. He carried on flying forward but watched behind him. A flicker of dark past through the streets beneath him, a mere shadow that disappeared almost instantly. Confirmation of his suspicions received the fox flew down to the slanting rooftop of a building.

He slid down the tiles before coming to a more even surface with a loud thud and scrapping of gravel.

The night air was silent and still. Far too still, almost to the point of stagnation. Slowly Miles reached into his jacket and with a loud steely hiss withdrew his sword blade; the polished metal of a Falcon Admiralty class saber shining in the fading moonlight.

There he waited in utter silence, keeping his eyes kept rigidly forward. There was a short flash of green light from behind him and Shadow landed in a crouch nearby.

Miles slowly turned to look back over his shoulder.

"So…" Shadow started, straightening up. "It was you I saw… I thought that perhaps my eyes were playing tricks on me." The dark hedgehog smiled grimly. "I imagine Sonic'll be pleased to you."

Storm poked his head up over the top of the fire escape and then hung back. This was the dark hedgehog Jet had asked him to keep an eye on.

Crouching low on the rusty ladder the Albatross listened intently to the conversation.

Miles turned about fully, keeping one hand rigidly held around the hilt of his sword.

"Have you come to talk… or fight?" He asked sternly.

"Why do you need to ask?" Shadow queried, narrowing his eyes. "Perhaps you feel put off by this?" He raised his left arm and showed Miles the flowing orange mark etched into his skin.

Despite himself, Mile's left cheek twitched in a spasm of anger. Shadow recognised it and his smile widened.

"Good. You do know what this mark means. I've come to the right person." He said lowering his arm.

"You bear the brand of my enemy." Miles told him sharply. "I can not treat you like a friend."

"I'm not here for you friendship." The dark hedgehog replied in an equal sharp tone. "I am here for information. If you are 'his' enemy then you should know something about him." He stepped forward almost threateningly, any form of courtesy gone from his face. "I need to know more about Black Doom."

Miles paused, taking a deep breath in through his nostrils. He held it, keeping his gaze locked on the hedgehog before breathing out slowly.

"What I can tell you for certain is… even if he keeps his word, whatever reward he promised you is not worth the price you may have to pay."

"What I want I'm willing to pay any price for." Shadow remarked. "I'm not stupid Tails, once and only once I get what I want will I uphold my end of the bargain."

The fox shuddered at the sound of that name.

"Please… don't call me that. I swore an oath I'd not use that name until I got her back."

"Her?" Shadow repeated. "Oh… I see. And just where is dear Cosmo now?"

"Your master has her." The fox hissed. "He took her away, entrapped her with him and his other kind in that inescapable prison. A realm easily to get into but near impossible to get out."

Shadow stared at the fox for a moment, studying him in detail. He was taller than before his fur had turned a darker shade of cold. His blue eyes were still the same. For all the bravado he coated upon his image, those eyes still held a slimmer of the childlike innocence Shadow had observed in him before… although sadly to a far lesser degree.

Well… while it was not a piece of information he had been expecting… that was going to be useful.

So Black Doom needed not only the Chaos Emeralds but Cosmo as well? And perhaps other bits and pieces? Shadow wondered briefly how complex this 'Ritual of Prosperity' of his was going to be.

"One thing he chose not to share with me was the nature of his kind." The dark hedgehog continued. "Just who are they?"

"I for one call them demons." The reply was sharp and full of malice. "But they call themselves Titans. Counting Black Doom amongst them, they number twelve… although one escaped a short while ago. He's been helping me ever since."

"Dark Oak!" Shadow nearly spluttered. "He's a Titan?" Miles just nodded.

"His memory of the place is faded and his lore about that prison is not extensive. All he recalls is that he and his fellows, Black Doom included, were cast down into that pit where they slowly evolved over eons into monsters."

"Then… the prison of which he speaks... is Nexus!"

"The very realm in which Krish the Destroyer was bound by the Black Arms centuries ago." The fox added. "I'm willing to wager Black Doom did not mention that."

"No he did not." Shadow said, looking now very stern.

"Although a fat lot of good this information will do you Shadow." The fox pointed to the brand on his arm. "That mark is his signature that binds both himself and you to a contract… the agreement you both agreed to.

You can not go behind his back now Shadow… it is far too late for that."

Shadow glanced down at the mark on his arm.

From Nexus was he? Well, that realm certainly fit's the description of his inescapable prison. Krish had needed all seven Chaos Emeralds simply to open a gate there momentarily so he could slip out. Was that why Black Doom needed them?

If he planned to open the gate long enough for himself and whatever these 'Titan's' where to escape then he was going to require more than just the Chaos Emeralds. But where did Cosmo fit into that plan?

There was only one other than Dark Oak who knew the ways of Nexus to explain more.

The mere thought of going to him for information made his skin crawl but Shadow was not in far too deep to back out now.

He turned to leave, walking way from the fox without another word. Miles watched him go, then slid the saber back into its sheath inside his jacket.

"I thank you for the information." Shadow began, pausing on the edge of the rooftop. "When you see Dark Oak again, tell him it's nothing personal but I am going to kill him." Thrusting himself over the edge, he leapt into the early morning air before vanishing into the green haze of a Chaos Control.

The flash erupted into Storm's face. Seeing lights before his eyes he swung backwards, loosing his grip on the ladder and falling down to land with a loud clattering amongst a collection of garbage cans.

Pushing the rotted pieces of fruit from the markets off his face, Storm watched as the flying fox disappeared as well; flying off in one direction.

Despite the fact he had an aching back and smelt of festering fruit, the albatross had a wide grin on his face.

If this lead didn't get him back into Jet's good graces then nothing would.

* * *

-

Distribution of Marionettes had been completed across the width of the Confederation fleet. By now there wasn't a single fleet operating within Com-Fed space that didn't have a battalion of these new cutting edge Mechs stationed amongst them. Construction on the Egg Factory was now complete and production was commencing at an aggressive pace.

The word from the Empire was that the Doom's eye was pleased.

Eggman would have been sourly annoyed if he hadn't been.

But he'd seen nothing yet.

"We could move now Doctor, while the Dooms Eye's suspicions aren't aroused." Decoe mentioned when he gave his master the final progress report; announcing the Egg Factory operation at one hundred percent capacity.

"Acting too soon can be just as dangerous as acting too late. As long as the circumstances remain the same, we wait." Egman replied without looking at the screen. He lounged by himself in the spacious apartment the Fenrir authorities had provided him during his stay.

It was a cozy place overlooking the main high street of Soleanna's industry and technology district. From the balcony outside the French windows was a spectacular view of the succession of lights stretching down the street towards the dark horizon. "We need the Chaos Emeralds in order to beat the Dooms Eye and the Resistance isn't in position yet. We can only move when all the pieces are in place. Time is of the essence."

"You don't know how right you are Doctor." A voice stated.

Eggman whipped around out of his chair to face the intruder but froze in his tracks at the sight that met him. Towering over him, casting his large shadow over the scientist was Dark Oak. His metallic outline highlighted by the night lamp, giving him a silhouette that made him intently more menacing.

"Listen to me well Doctor and listen well. Your fate may well depend on how to react to what I have to say. Sit down."

Eggman just stood there with his lips pressed tightly together and fresh sweat running down the sides of his face.

Dark Oak gave him a small shove, forcing the stunned Doctor back down into his chair. Eggman did not argue. He sat there looking petrified.

"The enemy you are about to make goes beyond the obvious. The Dooms Eye is more than he seems and far more dangerous than you give him credit for."

"I know what I am doing." The Doctor protested, finally finding his voice. "I will strike him down from the inside and his Empire will be mine!"

Dark Oak sighed and shook his head.

"The Dooms Eye cares nothing for the Confederation. His true objectives are far more sinister and threaten to destroy us all."

"And just what do you mean by that?"

The former general raised his arm and clenched a metallic fist with a loud echoing clank. A small compartment in his wrist revealed itself and a CD slid out of the opening that appeared.

"This contains all the information you and your allies will need to know. Pass it along to them.

We need to strike now before it is too late." He past the disk to the Doctor, who at first looked at if as if he expected it to bite his hand off. Then with seemingly great reluctance he picked it up gingerly. "The chaos generated by this competition amongst the enemy is beginning to waver. It will not last much longer.

The only question you personally need to answer is, which is your greater enemy? Is it Sonic; the hedgehog who has constantly foiled your plans for dominion… or a force of destruction so powerful and sinister it could crush planets between its finger tips?"

Swiftly, Dark Oak slid to the side; passing through the windows in a shower of glass before leaping off the edge of the balcony and vanishing from sight in the early morning darkness.

* * *

-

Sonic half heartedly scribbled it down on a piece of paper before holding his drawing up for all to see. The hedgehog was not the best artist in the world and his drawing skills could have used improvement but he still managed to get the rough outline of the shape of an inward curving circle with spikes along the outside edge.

"I saw this mark on Shadow's arm." He stated, tapping the paper with his free hand before passing it to Chuck. "And that old man had the came mark, right on the same arm as well." The old Thorndyke's put his forefinger and thumb to his chin and put on his thinking expression, humming thoughtfully to himself.

"Can't say I've seen it before." Hare muttered, leaning around Chuck to get a better look at it. "Just what did Shadow say anyway?"

"That he wanted the Chaos Emeralds." Sonic replied bluntly. "And he made it clear that if we got in his way we'd live to regret it."

"Babylon Rogues, Eggman, Shadow; and now whatever this stuff means." The rabbit like furry muttered, placing his large hands on his hips as Chuck went over to one of the consoles on the bridge and accessed the databank Darion had given them. "It's all happening here isn't it?"

"I'd rather it didn't." The blue hedgehog muttered as he slumped into one of the chairs. "I've enough problems on my plate."

"Amy and Sera huh?" Hare asked with a coy smile.

"They're fanatics."

"They can't be that bad,"

"Last night Amy tried to sneak into my bed and this morning Sera was constantly bending over to show me her cleavage." Hare stood there with his mouth hung slightly ajar.

"Lucky bastard." He muttered turning away.

"Sorry Sonic but I can find a reference to anything like this in the archive." Chuck told him, handing back the drawing. "You might as well just as Shadow himself."

"Until I know more I'd rather not." The hedgehog replied, putting his arms behind his head. He yawned unexpectedly and put his feet up. "I think I'm gonna take a nap on this one for a while… wake me up if anything interesting happens." He added, rolling over to make himself more comfortable.

"Define 'interesting'." Hare asked but Sonic was already feigning exaggerated snores.

Sonic was now clear through the tournament all the way to the semi finals. The other matches were still going on so who he would face in the next round was still unconfirmed. Thus far Chuck hadn't made much progress on a Chaos radar yet. The one Emerald they had sat in the energy core with the Master Emerald; safe under Knuckles' watchful gaze. The Babylon Rogues were ahead but Sonic was still certain they could catch up.

It was a slow day and those that could took the opportunity to catch up on their sleep. Lieutenant Milford had been organizing the ship with true military precision and had exhausted himself. He was slumped in a chair near the bridge's communications board, chins pressed against his head and arms folded in front of him.

It was raining again outside. A soft constant pattering against the windows was such a soothing sound that it had sent him right to sleep.

A loud beeping erupted without warning and Milford shot up, slamming forward onto the console and blurting out several army commands that made no sense when used in one sentence.

"I'll take this call." Chuck told him, pressing a button on the console down to answer the incoming message.

"Attention; this is the harbour master to Blue Typhoon. By royal degree you are ordered to weigh anchor and move out into the bay." The almost shouted statement buzzed with static through the bad connection.

"What... Why?" Chuck asked with knitted eyebrows.

"The Royal barge will meet you out in the bay. This is by the order of King Solomon. Please comply."

Chuck didn't even have time to say anything else before the connection cut off.

The King's longboat despite being made of metal, with a dragon's head standing out on the bow and a row of circles that resembled shields running along each side. It moved into the bay and anchored itself, keeping some distance away from the harbour.

"Better see what this is all about." Sonic told Chuck, who nodded and disengaged the hooks keeping the Typhoon anchored to the docks. The Typhoon was a spaceship, not intended for travel on the open sea, but still it did have some navigational capacity while in the water. Some of the lower level thrusters moved the ship out until it was running alongside the Royal barge.

As they neared, a smaller hover transport launched from the Viking style ship and moved towards them. It asked for landing clearance on the Typhoon's aircraft runway and quickly descended down.

Greeting their visitors, Sonic was surprised to find the giant Solomon himself waiting for them.

"I was wondering if you and a few select friends wouldn't mind coming with me on a tour of northern Fenrir." He stated with a wide smile.

"I didn't think kings gave guided tours." Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well the wife adores you so much that it's become almost policy." Solomon replied with a shrug. "Besides, you did help deliver my child so I think I certainly do owe a thank you."

"Oh come on Sonic, it'll be fun." Amy started, pulling the hedgehog towards the transport by his right arm.

"Meow.. Sure, it'll be a day to remember so come on." Sera added, tugging at the hedgehog's left.

"Help me out here guys." Sonic asked back towards the others who were watching him get dragged away.

"Ah, stop complaining. Some guys would kill to have girls that that on each arm." Fang muttered with an unimpressed look on his face with folded arms.

"Hey, if you don't want them give them to us!" Hare shouted after them as the small transport left the docking bay and moved out into the now pouring rain. "Oh come, you've plenty to spare!"

"Here." Solomon placed something into Sonic's hand as the transport crossed the distance between the two ships. The hedgehog brought it up to see the item was a gold coin.

"It's a tradition in Soleanna that during a funeral a gold coin is placed on the body of the deceased so they pay the boatman Charon to carry them down the river Styx." Sonic narrowed an eye. "Don't look at me like that…. I'm a northerner, this is southern Fenrir claptrap."

"Then way are you giving one to me?"

"In the north, gold is a symbol of gratitude. Think of this as my personal thank you."

The transport landed on the Longboat and as soon as it touched down, the Viking style ship began to move out of the bay and towards the open ocean.

Sonic was not at all comfortable on ships. The bobbing of the vessel's upset his stomach, made his head feel light and the strength leave his legs. Still, since this trip wasn't completely on a sea bound craft he supposed he could endure it for the time being.

The king showed the three of them inside out of the rain and into a room prepared for them. A table was placed in the centre with chairs down each side.

"Please help yourself to something to eat." Laid out across the length of the table was a banquet. Piles of fruit, slices of meat with sauce and something that closely resembled bread on the side. The mere smell of it was enough to make anyone's mouth water.

"Traditional northern Fenrir feast." Solomon said proudly. "You may as well tuck in, it'll be a long trip to our first destination."

Amy and Sera didn't need any encouraging. The cat girl was instantly into the meat, sinking her large fangs into it and tearing off large chucks like an animal.

Amy helped herself to the exotic looking fruits and Sonic simply turned the coin over in his hand.

"Oh, this is fantastic!" The pink hedgehog suddenly declared, holding up the pale violet fruit. "Sonic you should try this!" Sonic wasn't listening.

"Hey wait a sec…" He started began holding the coin up to the light. On closer examination the coin was indeed what he suspected it was. "Is this REAL gold?"

"Standard Soleanna currency." Solomon replied with a short grin. "See... It even has my image on the head side."

"Standard…" Sonic repeated with widening eyes.

"We don't use the paper money the galaxy seems dependant on. On Fenrir, its gold coins or nothing."

"How can you have that much gold?"

"The north country is stuffed full of the stuff. There are mountains almost completely gold. Here it's almost worthless." At the mere thought of an entire mountain of gold, Sonic stood stock still in stunned silence. She shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"If it's nearly worthless here then why do you insist on gold or nothing?"

"Well, when I signed the treaty that joined us into the Kingdom of Merchants, their interstellar banks tried to flood Fenrir with paper money. Talking about loans, insurance and other stuff we didn't understand. It was attempt to bleed us dry before any of the Kingdom's economic protection could be put in place.

I had to put a stop to that, so here; their paper money is utterly useless. I won't have them swindling my world like they do the others." He paused. "Of course that didn't stop them trying to pass off counterfeit iron coins with gold paint."

"If they swindle so much, why'd you join?" Sera asked before sinking her fangs into some meat. The king shrugged and sat down into a throne like seat at the head of the table.

"Trade more than anything… but when you're dealing with merchants there are always going to be a few who try to take you for a ride."

Sonic quickly tucked the coin into his pocket, making a mental reminder to bring as much Fenrir currency back with them as souvenirs as the Typhoon could hold.

"So, what we going to see first?" Sera asked and Amy handed Sonic one of the purple fruits. The blue hedgehog sniffed it warily before taking a small bite. He chewed it thoughtfully before swallowing. It was strangely similar in taste to apples only a lot sweeter.

"Oh er…" Solomon suddenly looked hesitant. "It's a surprise. I think you'll enjoy it much more enjoyable if you see it for yourself."

Sonic sat down and tried some more of the fruit.

It wasn't as alien as he expected it to be… but something about its taste seemed odd. It wasn't the sweetness of the fruit itself but rather some underlining thing he couldn't put his finger on.

Glancing up he saw that the king was sitting there watching them without the hint of a smile.

"Not eating Solomon?" Sonic asked.

"Believe me I'm not hungry." The king replied, knitting his fingers forward and making a very morbid looking expression.

Sonic stopped chewing then.

Something, some voice in the back of his head, suddenly alerted him to the fact that something was very wrong. It was a creeping feeling of dread and apprehension, like one had walked blindly into a nest of vipers

"Sonic I…" Amy asked, swaying back and forth looking dazed. "I… I don't feel so good."

Sera didn't say anything, she sank down into one of the chairs around the table trying to keep herself from falling over.

Too late did any of them realize that their food had been drugged.

Sonic stood up sharply but found the strength in his legs vanishing as he did so almost hitting his head on the edge of the table. Tumbling forward he crashed to the floor. Solomon just sat there watching them with unblinking eyes.

Sera swayed back and forth for a moment before lying back in her chair; unable to fight the compulsion to simply close her eyes.

Amy tried to prop herself up on her hammer but eventually even she gave in and slumped down, her eyes slowly closing against her will. Sonic, through sheer stubbornness, remained conscious for as long as he could.

Glancing up he saw several men enter the room; all of them dressed in white robes with hood that concealed their faces.

"You made the right decision your majesty." One of them told the king, who looked away in shame as, unable to hold out any longer, Sonic slumped to the floor and all went dark.


	32. Episode 16, part 2

Sonic grunted in both annoyance and pain as some remnants of consciousness began to float back to him. His head was still pounding as he slowly pushed himself up off the cold stone floor. He tried to rub the side of his face, but found that there were restraints around his arms and legs.

Sonic pushed his legs open and gazed down to find some rust iron manacles locked around his wrists and ankles, keeping him pinned to the floor by a large iron ring embedded in the stone.

Briefly, the thought of using Chaos Control to move himself out crossed his mind, but anchored as he was; there simply wasn't any way of doing that.

Memory came flooding back in that instant and the hedgehog recalled exactly what he was doing in a dank little cell.

"Solomon!" He hissed trying to stand up but before he could the weight of the chains dragged him down.

This didn't make any sense. Why would Solomon do this? What had they done with the girls? And just who where those robed guys?

The cell he was in had no door. Rather it was a pit with circular smooth stone walls dripping with wet cave moss and cobwebs. The overpowering smell of death came from a collection of old bones on the far side; the top of a skull peeking at him from admits a pile of old rags. The only light coming from the glow the moss radiated and the dim light from the pit entrance high above.

"Great, I get the deluxe suite." Sonic muttered, slumping back to lean against the wall. Well, the fact that they hadn't killed him yet was a good enough sign. But what about Sera… Amy? What had they done with them?

If the hedgehog had simply been the target of this trap, had they simply… done away with the rest?

A loud clanking sounds of metal striking rusty metal echoed out from the top of the pit high above.

Sonic glanced up, straining to see through the utter darkness. Something past in front of the dim light and the sound grew louder. Soon Sonic could see a loud iron cage being lowered down by a chain; swinging occasionally against the wall making a clank.

When it got near enough Sonic observed that there was something lying face down on the bottom of the cage.

The cage reached a point somewhere about a couple of feet from the floor and its bottom opened up, allowing the captive to drop with a dull thud to the floor. Once that was done, the container was swiftly brought back up; the metal clanking loudly as it moved higher and higher until it was gone.

Sonic turned his attention to his new Cell mate.

"Hey… hey buddy… You ok?" The new arrival only stirred a little. In the dim light he appeared human, with long chestnut loose hair and a white shirt, torn and muddied in places. His panes were black and around the ankles was encrusted mud and around the wrists were shackles of iron.

There was a soft groan as it started to move.

Even in the dimmed light, Sonic could see that as it moved; the man had gills down the side of his neck and webbed fingers.

"Damn it, they broke my specs." The arrival muttered, picking something up that tinkled like broken glass.

He heaved himself up and sat back.

"Be thankful that's all they broke." Sonic muttered. The man looked up at the hedgehog, regarded him for a second before breaking into a wiry grin. Between his lips Sonic could see that his teeth were all deadly sharp and the canines even longer.

"So… we finally meet. I was wondering if I'd rather get the chance to run into you."

"You know me?" Sonic asked.

"I know of you." He replied. "You're headline news on planets all over the galaxy… the hedgehog who actually defeated one of the demons of Nexus." Sonic feigned a confused expression for a couple of seconds. "The Destroyer of the Destroyer."

This wasn't the first time someone had told Sonic that Nexus had held more than simply Krish's spirit.

"When you say… one of the demons… just how many are there supposed to be inside Nexus?"

"The legends say uncountable numbers." The man replied. "But Nexus is supposed to be more than simple a holding place for demons…its supposed to be the place in where the unmaker resides." He extended a flipper like hand forward. "My name is Piranha."

"Piranha!" Sonic exclaimed with widened eyes. "You bastard! You're the one I have to thank for rapid fans following me halfway across the galaxy." He paused. "Funny… You don't sound like that DJ." The man coughed into a fist.

"Oh I'm sorry… where you expecting…" He altered his voice. "Yeah yo, this is Piranha coming at you planet bound listeners out there in radio land!" Somehow he made his voice sound so deep that it was impossible to guess without seeing it that it was the same guy talking. "That's my show voice. I save it for air time."

"Yeah well which voice you used, you still caused me a fair bit of grief."

"You're hot news that people want to hear about." Piranha stated with a shrug. "Plus a favourite set for the semi-finals of the Ex Galaxy Grand Prix. I merely supply the intergalactic public with the topics they want to hear about."

"Just out of curiosity… who's the favourite to win the tournament? Me or Jet?"

"Actually bets are pretty even, but you've got a wider fan base."

"Sweet!" Sonic grinned from ear to ear. "So...just where the hell are we?"

"Still in Soleanna." Piranha told him. "I followed the royal barge when it left the bay, hoping to get some scoop. It looped around the peninsula, landed and then you and the two young ladies where taken right back to the city and to the backdoor of the Order of Thunder's cathedral.

I got myself caught trying to follow you in."

"Anything for an inside scoop?"

"That's the journalist for you." Piranha added with a smile showing off his teeth. Sonic growled and slumped his shoulders.

"Damn. Then I guess all that talk about a tour of the north country really was just a lure."

"Guests so. What the hell did you guys do to upset the Order of Thunder so much that they'd arrange a kidnapping through the bloody king?"

"I don't even know what the Order of…" The hedgehog started but trailed off. "These Order guys… to they wear robes with a thunder bolt symbol drawn in red?" Piranha nodded.

"Standard priest of Zeus getup." Sonic groaned in response and sighed.

"Hey wait…" He sat up sharply. "The girls… Amy… Sera… are they alright?" Piranha shrugged.

"I don't know where they took them… but they were alive when I last saw them."

At least that was something.

Feeling an object tugged into his left glove, Sonic managed to maneuver around his fingers until he could reach in and pull it out.

"Hey I still have this." He muttered, pulling out the gold coin Solomon had given him. "Pretty lousy trade for the day I'm having."

"Don't be so hard on the king." Piranha sighed. "The Order of Thunder's got dozens of planetary rulers and governments in their pocket.

It's how they maintain the status quo of dominant religion in such a tremendous multicultural galaxy."

Sonic wasn't listening. He had just noticed something on the coin he had seen before. It was a small switch hidden amongst the grooves on the side. Sonic delicately reached forward and flipped it.

There was a short mechanical wiring and the coin snapped in half like a pocket watch on a hinge and inside was concealed a speaker. As soon as the fake coin was open, the mechanism was activated.

"Sonic." A voice began. Sonic recognised it instantly as that of King Solomon. "Believe me I am most sorry but I am afraid I had no choice.

The Order of Thunder has a… certain hold over me that I can not, will not, get around.

They asked me to deliver you to them, I know not why, but I had to do what they said anyway."

"Yeah, sure, you're the martyr here." Sonic muttered with a flat tone of voice.

"I'm sure I'm the last person you want to talk to right now, so I'll make this quick. Inside this container you'll find a short working laser. Cut it to escape your bounds and if what they say about your abilities is true, you'll be able to handle the rest just fine."

There was another soft click and another secret door on the bottom half of the fake coin opened up, a pencil thin item projecting out with a scalpel like tip.

"Once you escape, you're going to have to find both yourself and your ship. The Order of Thunder are fanatics and will come at you like an avenging deity. My final advice to you is to lay low until you can get off this planet. I hope for your shake we do not meet again.

The Solaris Project is not something to dabble in for long.

Good luck." The device went silent and Sonic looked down at the button protruding some underneath the speaker.

"Hey, I guess the coin really was his way of saying thank you." Trying to judge the distance in the dim light, he aimed the protruding metallic cylinder at the chain link and pressed the button.

"Solaris huh?" Piranha asked. "Man, if that's true then we're stumbled into a hornets nest."

There was a short flash of violet light and the chain broke into pieces.

"I could have used one of those in a few jams back when I was thirty." He added with a grin.

"Thirty?" Sonic repeated slicing through the chains binding his ankles together. "You don't look that old."

"My species has a longer lifespan that most." The pirate DJ explained. "I may not look it, but by your years I'm over eighty." Sonic stared at him with a lopsided expression, before cutting the bind around his right ankle. Once that hand was freed he was able to remove the rest of the bindings from his body. "Hey, er; ya mind?" Piranha asked holding up his shackled hands.

"Actually I was thinking of leaving you here." Sonic stated standing up. Piranha suddenly looked distraught. "Unless of course we can come to some arrangement about privacy issues?"

"Ok, Ok; I can see you're a reasonable Hedgehog… so I'll make you a deal." The DJ added quickly. "I lay off the coverage of your personal life and routine, although it does gonna lower my ratings, and we make a fresh start with a clean slate how's that sound?"

Sonic grinned.

"Piranha… I think you're the most agreeable media tycoon I've ever meet." The hedgehog held up the coin and a laser flash shot forth and sliced through Piranha's chains.

"Can I have your exclusive life story?"

"Maybe later."

"So, just how are you gonna get us outta here?" Piranha asked, standing up and rubbing his wrists. Sonic managed an impish smile.

A sonic-boom rocked the floor as the blue hedgehog shot up the side of the pit, sheer momentum and speed defying gravity pushing him and his passenger higher and higher; whizzing up at an unbelievable speed until Sonic jammed his forehead into a bronze grate over the pit's entrance. There was a loud metallic clank and it flew off, crashing into a nearby wall.

"Sorry I asked." Piranha muttered, his head swimming. There were loud sounds of alarm and Sonic looked around to see who men in silver armour with white hoods charging at them from out of an open doorway, each clutching a laser rifle.

The hedgehog shot forward, ramming them with a clenched fist. The punch sending each man flying backwards to crash into a wall. Clutching the startled Piranha Sonic shot out the door, knocking several men over as he darted at tremendous speed down the stone corridor.

"Which way?" He called back as they neared a spilt in the corridor, entrances leading both left and right.

"How should I know?" Piranha asked.

"Guess."

"What? Er… left!"

Nearing the fork, Sonic shot down the passage to the right.

"Hey! I said left!"

"With your broken glasses you couldn't tell the difference." Sonic muttered.

The two of them shot past several startled men, before bursting through another metal crate and coming out into an adjacent chamber.

"Well..." Sonic started, looking up as dozens of shadows passed over them. "At least they do interior décor well." The chamber was like the pit, with round shoot walls that went up for quite some distance. Ticking around out of holes cut into the wall, interconnecting in some places were dozens of bronze, silver and gold circles; each one made to look like a cog but without fitting together. They spun on axis horizontally, some moving more slowly than the others.

Each of them was encrusted with vines, large green creeper like limbs that lung to them like veins, spanning the smooth stone wall from the bottom all the way up to the top and the dim light like a blinking star above.

The sound of clockwork clanks and whirs echoed through the air, like the constant ticking of a watch.

"We've been waiting for you Sonic the Hedgehog." Sonic glanced up towards the speaker high above. A solitary figure standing on the edge, too far away to see any details.. "It took you longer than I imagined for you to escape that little cell. I was beginning to wonder if perhaps the stories about your abilities might have been exaggerated." The hedgehog frowned. "Of course the mere fact you found your way here is enough to say you have a good sense of direction.

Please… won't you join us up here? Your lady friends are waiting."

"Hold on tight." Sonic said, giving Piranha his only warning as he shot up into the air, somersaulting through a long series of gears, jumping to platform to platform; zigzagging up before doing an acrobatic twist that pushed him up and over the top.

"Well that was certainly different." Piranha muttered, sinking to the floor in a stunned daze.

Sonic stepped forward and gazed up. In front of them, a flight of stairs led up to a stone corridor that led into the next chamber. Sonic could see shadow disappearing down it.

Leaving Piranha behind he sped on, darting up the steps and down the corridor. Reaching the far end he came to a sudden halt.

Everything else just seemed not to be important when he saw it.

A massive clockwork device, stretching up half a mile; an entangled mess of gears and clockwork; all ticking around. And this was just the base. Above this was another large series of bronze dices, these being larger that the last, an orb presenting a planet attached somewhere along their length.

These discs spun around on an axis, rotating as they went. The entire device was massive beyond that, stretching up to cover the massive caverns ceiling was a canopy of leaves. An aspen tree with a trunk the size of a few city blocks loomed above from the top of the devices, its roots feeding down through the machines foundations and into the stone floor. The sensation of permanence came over Sonic, as if hew knew he was looking at something that been in place since time immemorial.

"You could waited for me you…" piranha started coming up behind him, only to fall silent at the spectacle. "I don't believe it… the legends are true…" He stepped forward. "It's… the Orrery of Prometheus!"

"That is correct." A voice started. Sonic glanced up to see the hooded figure he had been following standing on the edge of a bronze metal platform attached to the foundations of the device. "What you see before you is one of the few pieces of ancient technology left behind by the gods of Olympus after the Titanomachy; part of the grand Solaris project.

This ancient machine, we know, was built by the Titan Prometheus and used by him to predict the flow of time and the important events in history. It ticks only when those important events start to happen and provide its user with insight into those events otherwise not accessible."

"Ok pal, I've had just about enough of this!" Sonic snapped. "Where are Amy and Sera?" The hooded man stepped aside and gestured behind him.

The hedgehog grunted, took hold of Piranha's hand and uttered; "Chaos Control!" Both of then vanished in a green flash before emerging out of the warp on the balcony.

Sonic had hoped to catch them off guard, only to find he was expected. Dozens of easily armed men with guns had him and Piranha surrounded, the guns already raised towards them.

Sonic paid little attention to them once he saw the two girls, still out cold; placed at the feet of some of the soldiers. Amy's hammer lay a short distance away out of her reach.

Placed nearby in a glass container where, to Sonic's utter amazement, two Chaos Emeralds. One metal grey and the other sky blue.

"I can assure you they are unharmed." The hooded man stated as the hedgehog turned to stare at him with bared teeth. "Allow me to introduce myself." The man was definitely human, with a short white beard and long eyebrows; his forehead hidden by the overhang of his cowl. His eyes bright blue.

"My name is Arch. I am head priest of the Order of Thunder's divination faction." He turned and gestured to those behind them. Two others were there with similar robes. "This is Balthazar and Apollo, head priests of the Order's Inquisition and Internal-strife factions."

Balthazar was a reptilian, his hood drawn back and a long tail sliding out behind him, swishing from side to side.

Apollo was a feline. He kept his hood up in a similar manner to Arch, tied down to his shoulders to hide his eyes.

"I don't care much for the hired goon parade here." Sonic stated. "How about you just tell me what the hell is going on here?"

"Yes of course." Arch agreed. "We brought you here for a frank discussion and a discussion we shall have."

"This isn't a friendly tea party, Arch." The lizard Balthazar hissed giving the priest a hostile side glance. "This is an Inquisition and during Inquisitions I have complete jurisdiction." He turned his nose up at the hedgehog, looking down at him with a air of superiority. "If the Iblis Trigger is a threat then I will have no choice but to end that threat."

The hedgehog faced the reptilian and the two of them snarled at each other.

"Perhaps." Arch replied in a casual manner. "But you are not the one who decides this. Or perhaps you would like to put **_HER_** authority to the test?" He leaned toward him. "You already tried that with the Solaris Project. And need I remind you of the results?"

The reptilian paled slightly before turning away.

"I didn't think so." Apollo purred with a grin.

"I'm just gonna…bow out here." Piranha stated quietly, trying to slink back but was forced back into the centre by one of the soldiers at gunpoint.

"So… just what's so important that you had to kidnap me and drug my friends?" Sonic asked butting in.

"I will be blunt." Arch started. "We believe you are the Iblis Trigger and if so, we which to determine for ourselves what this means."

Sonic paused. Iblis Trigger again? Just what was all this?

"So what do you need the Chaos Emeralds for?" He asked, gesturing with a nod of his head towards the gemstones.

"We don't." Arch replied. "We found them. We thought that perhaps, if we agree to hand them over, you might be persuaded to cooperate." Sonic paused in thought.

"I'm listening." He started.

"Tell us, have to ever seen this symbol before?" Apollo asked, pressing a button nearby. There was a soft clank of churning machinery and the Orrery above started moving. Pieces of moulded bronze swung into view, one piece moving into a position above them.

Engraved upon that bronze plat, molded into the surface was an impression of a icon;

It was the same mark… a jagged encircling shell with a jagged outline; completely blood red.

The same mark that he had been on the crazy old man who had jumped him… the same mark on the right arm of Shadow. The priests studied the hedgehog for a moment and the confused expression on his face.

"I thought so. You've seen it haven't you?" Apollo started.

Without even looking at him Sonic reached into his glove and took out a piece of paper. Unfolding it he looked down upon the image he had drawn, the same jagged mark as etched upon the metal.

"This was on the arm of some old guy who jumped me at the stadium." He stated. "He called me Iblis Trigger, and told me something about a Black Doom before he ran off." The three priests shot each other looks of apprehension, some looking more scared than others. Even the soldiers around them looked a little edgy. "So just what does this symbol mean?" Sonic asked. The expression on Arch's face turned grave.

"It is the mark of the devil." He stated almost coldly. "The mark of the demonic Titan Cronos, whom our Lord Zeus rebelled against to save us all from the un-maker."

"If the agents of the enemy seek this hedgehog out there can be no doubt in our minds." Balthazar added. "It is as the Orrery divines. Sonic the hedgehog is the Iblis Trigger!"

"Yes that is clear. What remains to be seen is what that means." Apollo reminded him. "Does it mean destruction or salvation? Only she can tell us for sure."

"She?" Sonic asked looking back.

As one the three priests turned to face the gigantic machine, casting their gaze up they looked upon the massive tree overshadowing the Orrery.

"Gaia will judge you." Balthazar said. "And if she finds you guilty, we will enact the punishment." Sonic stare at him with wide eyes.

"You want a tree… a TREE… to judge me?"

"Gaia is more than a mere tree." The reptilian stated without looking at him. "She is the patron of nature. She holds some of the secrets left behind by Prometheus. She could tell us more."

"None may approach Gaia directly accept the marked. As the Iblis Trigger… only you would be able to talk to her." Arch continued. The hedgehog did not like this situation one bit. Either these monks were mad or just idiots if they thought a tree was going to give its opinion on anything.

Still… Sonic had seen stranger things in his time.

"What do you think?" He asked looking back Piranha.

"At the moment?" The DJ started, his eyes wide and clear confusion on his face. "I couldn't tell you what I think."

Sonic's eyes darted from the unconscious girls to the Chaos Emeralds. They held both hostages and bargaining chips. And Sonic did want to get to the bottom of this.

"Alright." He stated. "What do I have to do?"

As if summoned, a bronze platform on a segmented mechanical arm descended from amidst the clockwork gears and came to a stop at the hedgehog's feet. There was enough room for him to stand on.

"This will take you to her." Arch said and Sonic took a deep breath before stepping on.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Piranha muttered.

"Not as much as I do." Sonic went in reply as the platform rose higher and higher up towards the massive tree. He passed through a mess of pipes and clockwork, having to duck once or twice before it past the machinery.

As he neared the giant tree, a profound sense came over him. It was a strange clam that made him feel very sleepy.

Shaking it of he tried to keep his wits about him as the platform came to a stop. From here he could see just how large this tree was. He could see the starry night sky through the canopy. It had its top open to the sky.

The tree was beautiful. It's scent, the colour of its leaves, the wonderful pale bark. It all made him fee like a child, playing in amongst the fallen dead leaves of Fall.

Standing there, beneath the branches of that wonderful tree and above the churning wheels of the Orrery Sonic felt that strange calm come over him even stronger than before. His body felt as light as air and his eyelids grew heavy. He felt himself sway back and forth but still remained standing, wobbling almost on the verge of falling asleep.

Then, once he reached the point between asleep and awake he saw it.

Dozens of images, all jumbled together and running so quickly it was almost impossible to tell them all apart.

All in the same instant, Sonic observed entire planet's exploding in mass, a battle between a father and his two children, a tremendously powerful ancient civilisation spanning the entire galaxy, a pair of glowing orange eyes with a third directly above and most horrifying of all; he watched as a planet was ripped in half from the inside and something of tremendous and unbelievable size began to pull itself out through the hole.

A body made of lava, with four massive arms that scrapped over the land and burns it; one of these hands reached up towards the planets moons and grabbed it like a baseball, crushing the satellite into dust between its fingers.

Sonic shook his heads to clear his mind of these jumbled images.

"I welcome you, he who is marked by Chaos." A voice, distinctly feminine, told him; echoing as if in the bowels of the deepest cavern.

Sonic looked around and found that he was no longer where had had been a moment ago.

Now he stood in the middle of a seemingly never ending field of long grass. The sky above was flawlessly blue and the air was thick with the smell of pine. It was calm here, Sonic could sense that, a sheer overwhelming calm that was so powerful it quieted any and all anxiety in his heart.

"Where am I?" He found himself asking.

"With me." Came the reply. The hedgehog looked around to find that there was a figure standing a short distance away behind him.

She had her back to him, but the slender figure and long flowing white hair gave away the gender at once. She was about his height, with hands folded behind her back. She wore a simple blue dress down to her knees, her long hair flowing out behind it on a gentle breeze.

"Who are you?" Sonic asked.

"My name is Gaia Hertia." Slowly she turned to face him an at once he was struck still by her eyes. Emerald green, the exact same colour as his own eyes. It was if someone had copied his own eyes and given them to her. He didn't even register that her face was overtly round without a nose, ears or chin; or that she was clearly one of the people from Maginaryworld. "I am the first."

"The first what?"

"The first of my people… created by necessity, driven by necessity and then killed by necessity. One could say that I am necessity." Sonic stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I won't even bother to point out that made absolutely no sense."

Gaia smiled with a short cline of her head.

"I get that a lot."

There was a brief moment of silence, broken only the soft whistle of the wind in the air.

"So…" Sonic stared. "These monk guys think I should have a word with you."

"I know." She stated. "Both you and they have questions to ask of me, which is why I admitted you here. They tried to intercept the unmaker with their Solaris project and it failed miserably.

Prometheus' machine, as brilliant as it is, can not tell them all that they want, and need to know. It provides only small, although accurate, divinations." She looked him straight in the eyes. "So… where shall we begin?"

Sonic pressed his lips together deep in thought, trying to locate the question most dogging his mind.

"Ok then, how about telling me exactly who or what 'Black Doom' is?"

"Black Doom is the name taken by the Titan Cronos after his defeat and banishment into prison known by the people of your planet as Tartarus by Zeus; my grandchild." Gaia replied, suddenly looking a little saddened. "You personally know this realm as Nexus, the dimensional prison in which Krish the Destroyer was bound by the Black Arms centuries after Cronos."

"Nexus huh?" Sonic muttered. Now why didn't **_that_** surprise him?

"Cronos used to the gentle and kind soul, a patron of arts and agriculture; a son to be proud of." The sadness in Gaia's voice reflected that of a mother morning over a lost child. "But because of me that person is gone. I asked him, I asked both him and his sister to help me rectify a horrible mistake I made."

Sonic blinked once.

"And what mistake was that?"

Gaia sighed and rolled her eyes toward the sky.

"Marriage."

"Er…"

"I was wed to the lord of one of our people's wealthy houses, a man called Oranos. It was a political marriage I agreed to so that our people would remain as one whole instead of splintering into separate factions.

That proved to be a horrible mistake. Oranos was consumed by a terrible imperial ambition and he used his new position to seize control of our people and using them as soldiers, he began subjecting the other worlds around us.

We were the only advanced race at the time and the others were so primitive they'd barley begun to understand the concept of fire. Oranos made them think we were gods and so they laid down on their knees and worshiped him, spreading the word; making it easier for him to cultivate his growing empire.

Even that might have been forgiven, had Oranos not come across… across that stone."

"Stone?" Sonic repeated. "What stone?"

"A prize from a conquest… taken from a temple on a world inhabited by primitive apes like people. It was an item capable of drawing immense power of the ether and converting it into useable energy in our universe.

Such power corrupted Oranos even more until he was on the verge of making himself a god both in title and in reality.

I couldn't ignore his evil anymore and confronted him. With the stone hanging from a pendant around his neck, he transformed me into a tree; leaving me bound there as punishment for defiance."

"Turned you into a tree?" Sonic asked looking a little confused. "Why a tree?"

"A tree was once a ancient symbol for fertility and womanhood in our culture." Gaia explained. "Oranos had a warped sense of humour."

Sonic choose not to comment.

"Through this stone, Oranos discovered a way of opening a gate into Nexus and began using it as a prison for anyone who dared to defy him." She continued. "It was while delving into the depths of this place that he made contact with…" She hesitated. "With an evil I will not put to name." Sonic narrowed an eye. "It was then that I summoned the two children Oranos and I shared.

The twins, Rhea and Cronos.

I begged them to put a stop to their father's madness, being the only ones who could.

They honoured my wishes and with the Titan Elite, our nobles, behind them; they led a revolt and overthrew Oranos.

Cronos faced his father in mortal combat and prevailed, driving his Trident through his own father's chest."

Sonic who liked a good story stood there attentively.

"I had thought that the end of it when Cronos was produced ruler after succeeding his father. A golden age began, of peace and prosperity as my people struggled to rebuild.

But Cronos recovered the stone from his father's vault. It corrupted him just as it did his father and he began dabbling in its power.

It changed him and once that transformation was complete, he became Black Doom. What happens after that is irrelevant and I prefer not to speak of it." She fell almost deadly silent. Sonic felt there was more to tell but decided not to ask.

"Alright then." Sonic started, trying to think of another topic. "Just what is this Iblis Trigger crap I keep hearing about?" Gaia remaining silent for a moment, staring down at he ground before she looked back up at him.

"The Iblis Trigger is the title given to someone marked by chaos as the catalyst of change. Wherever they travel they affect this change. Sometimes it is small and unnoticeable, and other times it is monumental.

There have been many Trigger's in the past.

The first was the Zeus, who affected change by casting his own father down into Tartarus to prevent him from…" She paused, deciding not to finish that sentence. "You are the latest Trigger, Sonic."

"And how do you know that?" He asked sceptically.

"I have watched you from afar for some time." She replied impishly. "I saw you defeat the Eggman Empire at every turn. I saw you upset the carefully laid plans of the Elite who had spent centuries preparing to seize power. I saw you tear through the water demon Chaos. I saw you save your planet when the ARK fell.

And I saw you defeat Krish… a being so powerful that Black Doom made him an honorary Titan.

Whenever you go you have affected massive change… whether it was accidental or intentional that had always been the case."

Sonic could not argue. Quite to the country, he agreed with her. It was a truth that could be denied that wherever he traveled he had brought change. He had thought that simply a heroes life… but what if it had been fate…what if that had been his nature as an Iblis Trigger?

"You bring upheavals… which is why some find you distasteful as your mere presence upsets their happy little status quos." Gaia continued. "You may very well be the last Iblis Trigger.

"Last? What do you mean by that?" Sonic asked looking up in sudden alarm.

Looking him straight in the eye she walked towards him, keeping her hands in front of herself.

"Events are coming to a peek, to the point where the unmaking; the FINAL change, takes place." She stood close to him, almost within kissing distance, keeping her eyes locked on his. "You will continue on your journey, such as it is destiny degrees. Destiny is a script all actors must follow, an inescapable plot that engulfs our lives.

I can not see ideals futures but only shades of possibility. And the shade I see tells me you may be the thing that helps to open the gates of Nexus for Black Doom."

"What!"

"It is only a shade of possibility. I can not see the fixed future. That is the realm of Prometheus and I have not seen him for many a millennia." She smiled. "Whatever you fate, it is unavoidable. The flow of time from one event to another is imputable. This I think you know."

Sonic swallowed hard. Several years ago, he and a group of others somehow found themselves in the ancient past; just before Perfect Chaos destroyed the Echidna race. Knuckles tried desperately to prevent the event from taking place but it was to no avail, no matter what he tried the water demon came crashing down on the ancient city completely destroying it.

All Knuckles managed to accomplish was to rescue a few survivors, which turned out to be his ancestors; an event that took place anyway.

"If the worst case scenario is your destiny then you will know its approach by the endurance of three winters."

"Winters?"

"Perhaps not literally... But more like prolonged events that seem infinitely cold.

First will be the winter of winds; where great change will take place silently, ready for the upheavals to come.

Next will be the Winter of Wolves; where war will rage like an inferno, alliances severed and death shall come in unimaginable numbers."

That left a frog in Sonic's throat.

"And finally the Winter of Bloody swords, the time were we all face great adversity in the face of overwhelming evil. And after that…" She rolled her eyes. "Well after that nothing anyone could ever say or do would ever matter."

Sonic stared at her hard.

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't dismiss this all as some bad dream?" He asked.

"You can't because deep down you know what I'm saying is the truth. It's knowledge you've had suppressed in your mind since the moment you were born." She smiled. "You are marked hedgehog and your patron expects a service."

"Patron?" Sonic repeated. "What patron?"

"Believe me Sonic you are better off not knowing the answer to that question." Gaia paused. "There is only one pieces of advice I can give you.

Travel to Babylon, the capital city of the Falcon Admiralty on Planet Roc. Prometheus, the very man who built the Orrery; that is where if anywhere you will find him."

"And why do I need to speak to him?" The hedgehog asked.

"Even when our civilisation passed into obscurity, bloodlines remained; past down from our noble houses. In one such bloodline is the key to everything…

Only Prometheus can tell you where or who they are. I do not know.

He can also shed light on what being the Iblis Trigger means at this point in history, if you can persuade him."

"Persuade him?"

"Prometheus is an indifferent sort, eccentric in many ways as most diviners of the future are, and I might add quite selfish. I find it highly unlikely he would help you right of the bat, even in the wake of the Black Doom himself." Sonic paused to absorb this information. Just where was this all leading?

"And why would he be on Roc?" He found himself asking.

"Eons ago when our people's civilization was at its height, the planet Roc was one of our greatest outposts. The cities are gone, sinking into the desert sands but Prometheus was born there and even after so long he would still consider it his home." Gaia explained. Sonic decided not to ask how someone could live for that long as this situation was complicated enough already.

"Go now. Nothing I could say further could help you." There was a sudden surge and everything around Sonic started fading into nothingness, a tempest of white. The sky receded and the miles of long grass disappeared one by one. "Remember. Every change begins with a choice. Good luck, Sonic.

If you see Rhea anything in the near future tell her from me; tell her the time is nearing for her to carry on in my stead."

Sonic made a puzzled expression as the last of the world disappeared around him. Before Gaia disappeared she smiled at him like an innocent little girl.

"She'll know."

Disappearing from that place Sonic found himself back in reality as the platform descended away from the Gaia tree and down towards the bronze balcony where the others were waiting.

"Gaia has spoken." Balthazar proclaimed when the platform reached the metallic floor. "We all heard her voice. The Iblis Trigger will lead to your destruction!"

"That is only a shade of possibility." Apollo commented. "She told us the truth lies with Prometheus."

"We can not waist time on finding one who disappeared from all history eons ago. The mere possibility of the impending threat is enough." The reptilian snapped. "Knights, kill them all!"

Arch whipped a staff out of his robes and swung it around as the men with guns tried to fire. His weapon struck them across the chest knocking the back to crash into Balthazar.

Sonic looked up at him in confusion.

"I will endure." The priest told the hedgehog as the reptilian struggled to get of the floor. "I will endure to see the truth regardless of the consequences. Now go… Prometheus awaits. Good luck."

Without hesitating, Sonic darted to the side and drove his fist through the glass container; grabbing both Chaos Emeralds. As soon as they were within his grasp the hedgehog let loose the ability he had forced himself to learn while facing Shadow aboard the ARK.

"Chaos Control!" In that same instant he grabbed Piranha with one hand and the girl's with the other. Before any of the armed men could get back to their feet the four of them were gone.

* * *

It was late at night and Hare was just heading to the Typhoon's cafeteria for a glass of chocolate milk .Fang was asleep, drooped over he seemingly never-ending supply of dirty dishes in the sink.

Just as the rabbit was pouring the milk, there was a short flash of green light from behind him. Hare glanced back to see the new arrivals.

Sonic was out of breath and sweating, Piranha looked completely stunned and Sera and Amy were unconscious and appeared to be tied up as if in bondage practice.

It was at this point Hare decided to carry on as if he hadn't seen anything.

"Goodnight." He said, turning and leaving the way he came.

* * *

Balthazar slammed a fist into Arch's face. The priest was knocked over, falling onto his backside.

"You utter fool! You let him escape!" Balthazar raged like a volcano, anger clear in his eyes.

Arch breathed in deeply and sighed despite the

"Yes." He replied looking up the reptilian with a smile. "That I did."

"Why? You said yourself the Iblis Trigger could be the very thing that brings our doom and Gaia herself confirmed it." Balthazar stepped forward threateningly. "It could be the key to the gates of Erebus itself and yet you not only let him go free, but allowed him to make off with the two Chaos Emeralds we could have used!"

"You are too engraved in the here and now Balthazar." Arch stated picking himself back up.

"I have seen shadows of the future through the Orrery and while it is not our ideal reality, what will be will be.

The flow of events from past to present to future will continue on, a steady march we can not fight against; as no more a wall of sand hold back the tide."

"Besides we were going to give him those Emeralds anyway." Apollo added absently.

"Speak for yourself." Balthazar snapped.

"The Iblis Trigger will do what he must do when that moment arrives. Just as I did what I had to do." Arch finished with a loud sigh.

"Then you are insane." The reptilian hissed. "It is I who decide what destiny I enjoy. I do not believe in predetermined fate." Arch chuckled lightly.

"Then you're in denial."

The reptilian breathed out hard through his nostrils.

"Or perhaps you're just a defeatist. I will not allow Sonic to roam free. His threat will be destroyed and my inquisitors will be the ones to hunt him down! I am taking command of the order. The Solaris projects goes ahead!" He turned to face his soldiers. "Move out! Find that hedgehog and destroy any and all with him!" He bowed low as one before racing down the bronze steps from the balcony.

Balthazar shot Arch one last glare. The priest was stood looking up as Prometheus' grand Orrery, watching the churning bronze and silver discs move above.

With a swish of his long tail the reptilian turned to leave, marching down the steps to leave the priest to his divinations with the lost Babylonian technology.

"He is coming." Arch said suddenly and Balthazar froze. The reptilian was silent for a moment before turning to look back over his shoulder.

"Who is coming?" He asked finally.

"He whose mind is both restrained and rampaging." Arch stated, both hands pressed upon the foundation of the ancient device. "He comes through the domain of Cronos and will be the third to the two.

As with each of the three, our fates will rest with him."

"Who?" Balthazar demanded stepping forward. Arch let go of the Orrery and stood there in silence for a single moment, before turning around to face his fellow priest. His eyes were filled with a strange mixture of amusement and anticipation.

"He is Silver."


	33. Episode 17, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 17: The Semi Finals

* * *

Eggman had been silent for some time. He simply sat there at his desk, hand on his chin with eyes facing forward; a serious expression on his broad face.

The data flow on his desk computer was still going strong; analyzing the information contained on the CD-rom disc Dark Oak had given him. There was more information coming but Eggman had already seen enough.

The truth had been laid bare before him in more ways than one.

"What have I done?" He asked.

There was a short bleeping sound from his computer and the holographic image of Admiral Baal appeared nearby.

"Eggman, my forces have all been given their briefs and we're ready to move." He stated but the Doctor did not turn to face him. "Is something wrong?" He asked judging the scientist's uncharacteristic silence as something of an anomaly.

"Oh something's wrong alright." He whispered. "But let's hear your news first."

"It's bad news from Feson I'm afraid." Baal carried on. "Dispatches in the news say the Emperor just ordered the construction of the largest battleship the Confederation has ever built. It'll be completed in just over a few months and it'll have the firepower of ten Ymir's. According to my source the Confederates will make one final push with this new flying fortress as their flagship.

Their plan is to capture the Combine Federation capital-world of Kraken by the end of the year."

That coincided with the data Dark Oak had given him. This was all the confirmation Eggman needed.

"They're calling this new ship the Hades. I'm organizing hit and run operations to slow the production down to buy us more time." Baal was still carrying out as the Doctor say deep in thought.

"Baal I'm afraid the circumstances have changed." He said eventually, cutting him off.

"What do you mean?" The Fesonian asked looking a little puzzled.

"I'm leaving for the Egg Factory as soon as I tie up some loose ends in the Grand Prix." Eggman replied standing up. "I'm making final perpetrations for the push. We go ahead as soon as possible."

"But we're not ready." Baal protested. "And what about the Chaos Emeralds… and Sonic?"

"They can wait. This can not."

Baal put on a very confused expression.

"I'll explain when we have a more comfortable hour." Eggman assured him. "But for now I want you to rally the forces you immediately can and rendezvous with me at the Egg Factory. I'll be there are soon as I can to start the insurrection."

"But that'll alert the Emperor to our plans! We can't afford to do that!"

"At this point that doesn't matter. We're running out of time."

"You're not making a lot of sense Doctor."

"I know that. You're just going to have to trust me."

"Trust a person with your reputation?" Baal asked with a raised eyebrow. "You; a man who betrayed his own planet for power?" Eggman put on the sternest face he could manage.

"I'm aware of the irony." He said flatly. "But if you don't do as I say we're all going to suffer horribly." The doctor decided to use a trump card. "I have new information on the Emperor you're going to want to hear."

Baal looked a little skeptical.

"Alright…" He finally began. "I'll do as you suggest but I sure as hell hope you know what you're doing." With that his likeness disappeared.

Eggman crossed to the window and stared out at the horizon, trying to form some coherent thoughts. It proved impossible. This mind was a seething battleground of emotions. A plan was laid bare… which was more of less what he had originally intended, just on a shorter time frame and even then it would be subject of immense change and improvising over the coming days.

There was one thing he was certain of however.

"Loathe as I am to admit this, Sonic." The Doctor started. "You were right."

* * *

The Blue Typhoon came under almost immediately attack by Order of Thunder inquisitors. They seized the dock, attempting to take the anchored ship by force. The local police were told by the royal authorities to look the other way.

Chuck piloted the ship out of the dock before they could get on board and activated, for the first time in over two years; the Blue Typhoon's stealth system. A form of holographic technology developed jointly by Tails and Doctor Eggman that made the vessel almost completely invisible.

"Prometheus: Titan God of Forethought." Amy stated, reading off the information in one of her books.

The drugs had eventually worn off and the girls had awoken in a daze. Amy's initial reaction had been to march up to the royal palace and slam her hammer in the king's face as hard as she could. Sonic eventually managed to persuade her that wasn't such a good idea.

Sera was lounged on the sofa in front of the still not working wide screen TV, her tail swaying back and forth in a lazy fashion, purring softly.

"Patron of man who incurred the wrath of Zeus by bringing the knowledge of fire to humans."

Since the pink hedgehog had studied mythology for a brief time at a college, Sonic had turned to her for any hints about what might be going on. "In punishment, Zeus had Prometheus chained to a boulder where his liver would be torn out and eaten by an eagle and grow back in the night, to repeat the process each day."

"The Ancient Greeks are sick." The blue hedgehog replied.

"Sorry, nothing else about him." Amy sighed, closing the book of notes she had roughly made. "From all I can tell he's a character in folklore, nothing more."

"And so is Gaia." Chuck reminded them as he walked in. "It sounds to me like all you're doing is reciting Greek myth." He looked at the blue hedgehog in an odd way. "Are you certain the pressure's not been getting to you?"

"I'm fine." Sonic replied with a flat expression.

"Sorry it's just that when someone says they've been talking to trees its time to lock that someone up in a nut house." Sonic expression almost went hostile.

"I know what I saw Chuck. I can't explain it but I know it was real and not some subconscious concoction made by eating three day old pizza." Chuck held up both hands and backed off.

"Ok, ok. If you say so."

"You ate three day old pizza?" Amy asked with a disgusted look on her face.

"All I really know if he's somewhere in the city of Babylon on planet Roc." Sonic continued.

"Well that's a strange coincidence." Chuck muttered putting a fore finger and thumb to his chin.

"What?"

"I just had a look at the new tournament roster. It says the finals for the Ex Galactic Grand Prix are going to be held on Roc."

A strange smile spread over Sonic's lips.

"Well that's nice to hear. Free ticket there without those inquisitors breathing down our backs." He said, smacking a fist into his open palm.

"Will contestants for the final match of the semi-finals sounds please report to the stadium? The race begins in ten minutes." A voice announced loudly over the ships intercom, a direct feed from the tournament registry.

Sonic grinned and flipped his gear up, taking it under one arm.

"You're going to compete… with those inquisitors after us?" Sera asked in amazement looking up from the sofa. Sonic just shrugged.

"I've still got something to settle with the Babylon Rouges." The hedgehog replied, flipping down his green tinted glasses off the top of his forehead. "This won't take me long so sit tight."

He made towards the exit leading to the Typhoon's upper deck.

"Oh and Sonic…" The hedgehog turned and looked back over his shoulder towards Chuck. "I heard Jet just cleared his semi-final round. If you win this round… it'll be him you face in the finals."

Sonic was silent for a brief moment before he smiled.

"I'll keep that in mind." With that he walked off.

Knuckles lounged by himself in the energy core of the ship, listening to the hisses and occasional screeches the piping made. The Master Emerald sat in its usual place at the top of the metallic replica of the Emerald shrine. The Chaos Emeralds, which had been here for a brief while, had been moved to a more secure vault in the lower decks. Knuckles hadn't really seen the point in that. He could protect it far more than any silly locked door could, but still far be it from him to question Chuck's wisdom.

Standing at the bottom of the metallic shrine the echidna gazed up at the massive jewel, wondering how long it would be this time until it was placed back in its rightful place on Angel Island.

He was in the middle of that thought when something struck him hard on the back on the head with a loud thwack. He grunted once before collapsing vertically down, sprawling out over the floor unconscious.

Shadow stood over him.

The dark hedgehog nudged the echidna with his foot. Satisfied he was out cold, he carried on past him up the metallic stairs towards the Master Emerald.

Standing before the massive jewel, Shadow stared at it with a deep frown on his face. There was no guarantee there was enough of a mind contained within to get a coherent answer from considering the rest of it lay trapped inside the Precious Stone.

But since Shadow had no way of reaching the stone, the Master Emerald was going to have to do.

Still; the mere notion of what was about to do sickening him to the core. So much as talking to this… this thing was in his mind enough to corrupt you.

Ultimately, Shadow supposed, it came down to a question of preference.

Which did he hate more?

The Destroyer…. Or being kept in the dark about Black Doom's true nature?

"Alright." He began, raising the arm with the mark etched upon it. "You had best talk." He clicked his fingers calling forth a spark of a Chaos Spear attack, before pressing it against the surface of the jewel.

There was a reaction of energy in the form of a brief flash of light before a pulse began to pass through the air.

Shadow grunted as something assaulted his mind, a vicious clash of images, a blur of thoughts and emotions being transmitted all at once. The chaotic moment past and something of a pattern began to establish itself in the images.

Shadow saw, through pictures in his head, a young Fesonian fighting at the Confederation front lines; holding the banner of his empire in one hand while wielding one of their plasma swords in the other.

The dark hedgehog drew his hand away from the Master Emerald and shuddered. Somehow he knew that he had seen had been a memory from Krish's life, before he was transformed into the Destroyer by the Black Arms.

If that memory was to be believed, the Confederation had not always been so hell-bent on conquest and Krish himself had been their equivalent of a chivalrous knight.

That had been a random memory. If Shadow was going to get any answers he was going to have to force the information he needed out of it.

He replaced his hand, focusing his mind as the onslaught of random information began to almost instantly pile up.

Another image appeared.

"No Please no!" Krish was strapped down to a metal table, ankles and wrists bound to the surface by large clamps. Black Arm scientists were threading tubes through his skin to find his veins. "Please… I'm begging you!"

"After you slaughtered our people and burned their homes?" One of them asked, slapping him around the face with the back of his hand. "This is the price one pays for inert cruelty." A machine was activated nearby and liquid started to flow down the tubes and into Krish's bloodstream. "Goodnight sweet prince." A scream froze in Krish's throat as his heart began beating the mutating liquid around his body.

It was horrible to watch and since this was an image inside his head, Shadow couldn't look away.

Horns started growing out of the top of his head, cutting the flesh as they spiked upwards. Spikes of bone began to pierce the skin along the shoulders, blood seeping out to coat his body. The wet amphibian like shin changed to become almost mammalian with a short fine, black fur.

At the spike of his tail, four stegosaurus type spikes jutted out in a sudden burst. The mouth bulge before the cheeks tore open as two large, insect like pincers started growing. The golden eyes diluted before turning completely blood red. And all the while this transformation was happening his body size was increasing, muscle contorting growing more defined.

Finally he was the Destroyer.

Shadow had to pull; his hand away at that point. It was bad enough that he was forced to shift through the random memories but now he was actually feeling sorry for the Destroyer? This was the being who ruined his life and caused death on a near unimaginable scale. He deserved no pity.

"Enough of this garbage." He snapped. "Tell me about Nexus!"

Concentrating so hard on the emerald the dark hedgehog didn't notice that he was being watched. By tracing the energy signatures left by the many Chaos Control warps Shadow had been using, miraculously Storm had been able to follow.

It had taken the albatross a while to find the Typhoon, cloaked as it was to avoid detection by the Order of Thunder by following the trail of breadcrumbs Shadow had left behind, he had managed to worm his way past the security.

Now he was hanging just outside the entrance to the Energy core; watching the dark hedgehog with intense interest.

"Nexus?" Shadow heard a familiar voice repeat inside his head.

There was a momentary flash of random information, before the dark hedgehog found himself looking at the battle scared remains of some laboratory. Scorch marks lanced across the floor and the equipment around it was almost completely destroyed, melted to the wall.

There was a loud roar as if from the mouth of a lion followed by a scream. From a massive hole carved in the side of a wall, a Fesonain came flying, tumbling through the air before smashing into the far side at breakneck speeds; his body exploding into a bloody mess.

Darting through the hole Shadow beheld Krish, towering over a squad of Black Arm soldiers; one of them held aloft in his claws; talons spreading it to pieces in his grasp. Seeing that demonic face again, Shadow almost leapt at it even though he knew full well that this was only a memory.

"Look at me!" He screeched at them." Look at what you did to me!!!" His tail swung around, impaling two soldiers on the spikes and throwing them against the wall where their bones shattered. "I'll kill you for this!"

Krish was so enraged that he didn't notice that behind him, a mechanism was beginning to work. Gears moved along the wall as a massive pair of iron doors began to swing aside.

A Fesonian wearing armor that made it look a bit light a knight was desperately pulling on a lever as the gate opened; a swirling vortex of black and green beyond it.

Another Fesonian moved forward to confront Krish was the last of the soldiers were crushed underfoot. He wore the similar armor and grasped between both hands was the hilt of a claymore sword.

It looked like a sword at first glance but upon closer inspection it was revealed to be a machine of some kind; wires tracing out the back of the hilt and attached to machines lining the wall.

Noticing the sudden surge in the room Krish looked back behind him and saw the gate for the first time.

Sudden Shadow realizing he was seeing his defeat by the hands of the god of the sword and the god of the shield and his banishment into Nexus.

"Give my regards to the Black Doom!" The Fesonian wielding the sword stated loudly, before running forward and slamming the tip directly into Krish's belly.

The Destroyer gagged as parts of his body began flaking off as if he was being burned. Suddenly he was consumed by green fire with burned away at his skin and flesh bit by bit until his entire body was reduced to dust.

His essence, the empowered soul; unable to resist the influence of the gate without a corporal body was sucked screaming down into it. The sound of his echoing cry of despair fading before the gate clamped shut.

The energy requirements for opening a gate into Nexus being far to great, even for that a short a space of time, the lab started ripping itself apart with small explosions until the entire thing when up with an echoing boom.

"And why do you want to know what that living hell is like?" A voice began and Shadow looked around, finding himself in a limbo; a limitless space of nothing but empty black. He could feel the presence all around him, suffocating him, making him feel sick.

"What could it possibly matter now? I have no wish to endure your gloating of…." The voice suddenly froze in mid sentence and realizing its scrutiny, Shadow absently clamped a hand over the mark on his arm. It was too late. Krish had already seen it.

There was a long echoing laugh of cherished irony and Shadow watched something formed in front of him. A brief suggestive outline of the demon that still haunted his dreams.

"My mind is not whole… thoughts are hard to compose and examine but even so; nothing could make me forget that symbol." A pair of blood red eyes opened and stared down at the dark hedgehog. "Do you miss the warm embrace of she who was your adopted sister? Was that why you accepted that brand?" Shadow bared his teeth. "One of the many reasons you exist is because of me, you can not hide you deepest desires from that origin. You are transparent."

"Don't you dare try and guess me!" Shadow almost spat at him. "Just answer my question."

This half of Krish looked amused.

"And what is it you would ask of me?" He queried. "Is it knowledge of Nexus… or of the Black Doom himself?"

"Both." The dark hedgehog replied sternly. Krish went silent, both eyes narrowing as if in deep thought.

"Nexus is but one name for that dimensional prison." He stated once that moment had past. "It is more than a mere chaotic dimension. It is the sub-realm… the Underworld.

Quite literally, Hell, if you will.

A dead place, filled with the shades of those who once lived. It is a place of both damnation and purgatory for those who linger.

The dead pass through it as they continue on their journey. The most horrible fate is to be cast into that abyss while still alive. This is the chain that binds the Black Doom."

The comparison of Nexus to the fabled, 'Underworld', came as no big surprise to Shadow. How else would one describe that place anyway?

"And now… Tell me of what you know of the Black Doom." The outline of Krish shook his head in response.

"Even if I was inclined to, I can't. That knowledge rests in the other half of my mind, sealed away inside the Precious Stone." Shadow growled in intense frustration. "What I do recall is that I was not the only one who had an interest in your creation. While I sponsored the Foundation, Black doom sponsored Prof. Robotnik himself.

And now you wear his mark. Tell me Shadow… what did he ask for?"

"That is none of your business."

"If I was willing to place a bet I would say it would be something he needs something to help him escape Nexus.

Not an easy task, as I myself know. Even with all seven Chaos Emeralds, I could only open the gate there for a single moment. In order to leave, Black Doom needs a gate open for far longer than that.

The energy requirement is more than even the Master Emerald can supply." Shadow paused.

"You mean… he'd need more than the Chaos Emeralds?"

Krish's eyes went alive with triumph.

"Ah ha, so he DID ask for the Emeralds. I thought as much." The dark hedgehog put on a frown. "Well let me tell you… the very idea that all he requires are the emeralds is ludicrous. He definitely needs more and now you have that brand on your arm you have signed an unwritten contract, binding you into his service. He will have you do whatever he wants."

Cutting off the conversation , Krish left the dark hedgehog standing there with a lot on his mind.

It was then that Shadow wondered if it was time he demanded assurance of the deal he had entered in to. If both Tails and Krish were to be believed than Black Doom would fail to deliver on their arrangement, which was a possibility Shadow found most distressing.

He turned to leave and in mid stride disappeared into a flash of green light. Storm watched him go.

Something had happened there but he couldn't tell what. It was probably best he continued to follow Shadow until he figured out what this was all about.

* * *

The stars were out on the cloudless night when Sonic marched out onto the podium to meet his next challenger.

Finally he had reached the Semi-Finals and was only one match away from racing for the championship.

Only the next Babylon Rogue stood in his way.

"Hey, let's keep this a clean match ok?" Sonic asked as he approached the starting line. Wave managed a sly smile, her arm leaning over the tip of her extreme gear.

"Believe me; I don't go in for Jet's 'win at any cost' attitude." She retorted. "Besides which, I don't need to pull fast ones." She smile widened almost sadistically. "Because I AM a fast one."

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final match of the semi-finals rounds!" Eggman announced, standing up on the top of his hover pod. "The winner of this match will advance to the finals to face the already legendary Jet the Hawk for the championship!"

Sonic glanced up towards the royal box where he had seen Solomon earlier in the tournament. Not surprisingly the king of Fenrir was not that. The queen was however, looking on in adoration with the baby; Elise in her arms.

The birth had now been weeks ago but the baby seemed to be growing quite fast. A shock of mahogany red hair had sprouted on the top of the young head.

"Today's course is through the uptown, technology district of Soleanna." Eggman started and the rough outline of a course that zigzagged through the district appeared on the large screen. "Bright lights and the tall buildings can be expected and of course, a few of my own surprises are scattered here and there."

The doctor turned to face the cameras.

"Remember, this event was brought to you by Trans-multi, your friendly inter galactic transport service."

"A chaos Emerald's on this track somewhere isn't it?" Sonic asked giving Wave a side glance. The swallow returned his stare. "Don't think I haven't worked it out. You Rogues and the good doc up there are using this tournament as a cover to search for the Emeralds. Eggman arranges the courses that pass over where Dark Oak hid them and you simply scope it up in the race.

"My, my you're a clever one, aren't you?" She asked.

"Racers to your starting positions!" Eggman shouted and both racers lowered down into a stance, their boards held at the ready.

"I can understand why Eggman would want the Chaos Emeralds." The Hedgehog added. "But what do you bird brains need them for?"

"Tell you what blue boy…" She whispered back in a seductive tone. "Beat me in both the race and to the Emerald and I'll tell you. How does that sound?"

"On your marks!" The stadium went nearly completely silent.

"Well how about it stud?" The swallow whispered almost directly into his ear.

"Get set!"

"Boy, I'm glad Amy's not here." The blue hedgehog muttered.

"GO!"

Sonic was the first off the starting line, spinning forward with a burst of speed that sent him rocketing out of the stadium with a small boom. Wave was almost directly behind him, her gear keeping up with his was the pair of them crossed the line out of the stadium and down the marked course into Soleanna's technology district.


	34. Episode 17, part 2

"You're to meet one of our agents outside the space port." Those had been the parting words Jericho Mandarin had given Stuart before he started out on his mission. "She'll give you the schedule for the leaving shuttle and the way to smuggle yourself aboard. The schedule will also give you the times of departing shuttles from the orbital defenses.

Those'll show you the best times of when to enter and leave."

Even from a distance the Confederates had thrown the space port together half heartedly. They were spending most of their time on the Orbital defence ring around the planet rather than expend any resources on the planet itself, leaving the already ruined cities to fall apart as the land was reclaimed by nature bit by bit.

Since the Confederates were slavers they would transport a dozen or so up to the defences to work every so often. Stuart's orders were to slip in amongst those few, using that disguise to Trojan horse his way there.

Stuart hide his chair under the camouflage netting he had in his trunk and approached on foot. He was dressed in plain clothing and changed his hair style, hoping that perhaps this might be enough to fool any file the Confed newts had on him. It was well known that to Fesonians, all humans looked alike.

He stopped a short distance from the port perimeter and crouched down behind a hedge row. The man then removed his wrist watch and pressed a miniature button on the side. A small torch projected to the side and using this, Stuart flashed several beams of light at the buildings.

Then he waited, watching all before him without blinking. A few moments later there was a flash of light from somewhere near the compound entrance.

Three small flashes and one long one. That was the signal he'd been told that meant it was ok to come down.

However he waited until he was sure himself, before carefully treading his way down the slope, always keeping the buildings shadow towards him.

A figure was waiting at a corner for him. She was swearing a uniform with an open eye on the breast pocket, the standard uniform worn by slaves of the Confederation but Stuart knew her instantly to be Christina Cooper.

Her hair was short than before and she had lost a good deal of weight but the eye were a completely give away.

She had been personal assistant of Michael who had once been President and largely considered to be the 'last-legitimate' president. Stuart had seen her before during his career was an agent for the Federal Government.

The mere look on her face as he nearest as enough to tell him this meeting was to be conducted in complete silence.

She reached into his uniform and took out several sheets of paper that were clipped together along with a hand written note.

Once these were handed over she retreated inside the building mouthing a 'good-luck' to him.

Stuart pressed himself up against the wall and flipped together the paper's. They were the schedule he had been promised and one of the enters had been unlined in red.

According to the information there was a shuttle due to leave for the defences in five hours.

The attached note was scrawled instructions. It said that one of the transporters had escaped, with the note claimed 'help', and Stuart was to take his place.

Before he could read anymore, the ground shook in succession, one shake after the other like giant footsteps.

Stuart glanced up as a massive shadow fell around the ground from about the corner.

The massive head of a mutated Fesonian, a creature genetically engineered to be a living siege weapon moved into view. The beast dragged its enormous body forward, the claws growing out of the ends of his digits scrapping the wet earth.

Before it could see or smell him Stuart darted back behind the corner, vanishing to the darkness and out of sight.

* * *

Sparks from metal scrapping against metal illuminated the darkness as Sonic sped down the metallic cables that spanned across the width if the street, his gear allowing him to grind down the plate edge; gaining more and more speed as he forced himself on and on.

Wave was just ahead, sliding along the top of the buildings using hr edge to her advantage; performing fantastic acrobatic and graceful tricks in the air.

The flow of her body movements was completely flawless and it appeared as if she were dancing.

Sonic had noted that more than half of the stadium at the starting line had been fan boys wielding banners that said; 'Go Wave' or 'Wave is the best'. There had been one sad individual with a banner that asked Wave to marry him. Sonic not completely against the idea of fandom, sometimes the fame could simply get creepy.

The technological district of the city was very much like Chimera's capital, Metal city; in that there were dozens of nearly completely metallic building like sky scrappers with inner connecting buildings surrounding them. Neon lights were everywhere, the entire district a labyrinth of cables, metal pipes and giant neon signs.

Going a triple back flip over the edge of a building, the blue hedgehog gained a bit of ground as he soured along a series of cables stretching between the buildings holding the downward plunge might put him ahead of Wave.

He came close, almost to the point where for a point it looked like he might pass her. Wave just smiled at him from above, before grabbing the tip of her gear and with it held tight against her body she soared off the edge of a building; plummeting down several floors towards the hard ground.

For an instant Sonic thought she was committing suicide. At the last second she opened her wings, the wind soaring through her feathers providing her gentle lift which when combined with her speeds forced her on past Sonic and over the rooftops of several buildings.

"That was Wave's renowned dive bomber technique." Eggman announced to the crowd. "It's put her way past Sonic, what can the blue wonder do to make up lost ground?"

In an instant of annoyance, Sonic serious contemplated the use of Chaos Control in order to put himself past her.

That moment past almost instantly. That was cheating and while he was a lot of things, Sonic was not a cheater.

Stamping his foot down on his gear he soared forward, dodging through cables and spires in order to catch up with the speeding Rogue just ahead.

Wave, with her goggles down, looked past to see him coming.

Then she did something completely unexpected.

She slowed down, almost flying backwards as Sonic tried to pass her. The two gears rammed in mid air and Sonic was forced back another couple of feet while Wave soured on forward once more, this time with a larger lead.

"You'll pay for that one." The blue hedgehog muttered, reaching out and grabbed a vertical pipe.

With that momentum and an axis he kept spinning around, going faster and faster until he finally let go and like a sling shot rocketed forward.

Wave looked back and then swung her gear out of the way as a blue blur rocketed past. Sonic had to dodge several large objects at break neck speeds but still he managed to swerve past them all, grabbing the lead before ditching the rooftops and heading down into the empty streets; onlookers cheering them both on.

"Unorthodox move, blue boy. " Wave muttered, actually impressed and mentally noting the technique for future reference

Jet was watching the match from afar on the wide screen TV he had moved into his study onboard the Babylon Rogue's ship.

Personally, he would prefer Sonic to win this race, as facing Wave in the finals would have been anti-climatic. Still there was the question of his mission and if Sonic stood in his way of completing it.

If the blue hedgehog was eliminated now then that was one more wrinkle ironed out of the plan.

His eyes trailed to the key placed on his desk. All seven emeralds weren't needed to activate it but it still required a hefty amount of energy. So much as six would do. The two placed in the glass container near his desk simply weren't enough.

"Damn it father, what sort of legacy is this to leave your only child?" The hawk asked of the painting he'd re-hung above his chair.

The image didn't reply.

"And just where the hell is Storm anyway?"

Dodging around parked cars and other large transports he didn't recognize Sonic looked back; watching Wave soar around the rooftops behind them.

Something didn't seem right here. There was more in the way up there than there was down here. Why was she insisting on taking the slower path?

Then it clicked.

The Chaos Emerald hidden on this track had to be up there somewhere.

Cursing under his breath Sonic served to the right, soaring down an alleyway and then up onto the wall; using his momentum to keep going until he shot up into the air, going an acrobatic flip before descending back to the rooftops; startling Wave so much she almost tipped over the edge.

Using the momentary confusion, Sonic shot on further leaping along the edge as he gazed out from the birds eye view.

If there Emerald was somewhere up here then where was it?

"It's mine blue boy." Wave whispered to him, flying past as a rapid pace before grabbing her gear and back flipping over the street to the far side.

Sonic gazed up along the path she was taking. The only thing major there was a radio tower, a large mesh structure with a blinking purple light on top.

Sonic paused. A purple light? Didn't those things usually have red lights on top of them?

Sonic was prepared to accept it as being part of the culture of another planet where it not for the faint buzz he felt simply by staring at it, the tingle down his spine making his blue fur stand partly on end.

There it was; the Chaos Emerald.

Placed upon the top of the radio tower, a glistening jewel on its apex; partly hidden by the metallic mess near the tip.

Reacting like lightning Sonic forced his gear going, using a flagpole as a spring board to fly into the air over the street.

Wave unfortunately did not want him interfering so at the last moment she jumped as well.

The two of them met in mid air, the gears scrapping together with a spray of sparks and screeching loudly in protest.

Sonic nearly lost his balance, wobbling dangerously as if he was going to fall off before his gear connecting with the concrete edge of a building saving from a plunge.

Wave wasn't so fortunate. If she hadn't lashed out at the last second, grabbing the edge she would have fallen. She caught her falling gear with the other hand and turned her head to watch Sonic speed on towards the Emerald.

Flying up the side of the tower the hedgehog could see his goal more clearly now. It was the purple emerald. That made a grand total of six found with one more still hidden on some planet.

Whatever the Black Doom was, whatever its' connection to Shadow and whatever all this Iblis Trigger stuff meant; it was all secondary compared to finding the Chaos Emeralds.

With enough of them, Sonic could use Chaos Control to move the Typhoon back to earth; right past the Confederation space fleet.

Reaching the precipice of the tower Sonic reached out, hoping to snatch the jewel as he flew past.

His hand was an inch away from it when Wave flew in, spinning through air doing her exotic dance of acrobatics before sliding under the Sonic grasp and snatching the Emerald, spiriting it away as Sonic flew on. Passing the tip of the tower he shot up into the sky, trailing sparks and a blue ion stream.

"Damn it!" He snarled, watching as Wave dive-bombed from the great height; pulling herself away from him with her prize well in hand.

Still soaring upwards through thin traces of cloud, Sonic looked back to see a large red zeppelin like aircraft moving towards him.

A large vessel with floodlights underneath it, a needle pointed nose and a large series of mounted machine gun turrets, all aimed directly at him. A large metal fan at the back propelled it along. Printed on each side of the massive balloon was the image of a smiling face with a moustache.

"Looks like Sonic's just run into the first of my many surprise." Eggman chuckled, folding his arms behind his back. "Let's see how he manages to get around my Egg Balloon."

All the turrets fired at once and only by catching an updraft and moving up pas their firing range. Catching the end of the Egg Balloon's needle point the hedgehog managed to keep himself out of harms way.

From here he could see Wave gliding back down to the streets below.

It was bad enough he'd beaten him to the Emerald but he was not going to let her win this race as well.

A loud roaring sound caught his attention and glancing down he saw two badnik style mechs emerge form the zeppelin's underside. Then sound coming from the thrusters on their backs used to propel them up towards the hedgehog.

Once they were within range, their side arms moved out side with a loud click, missile compartments sliding open.

Sonic somersaulted up over the top of the balloon to avoid the projectiles as they coursed on with a loud screeching.

Sliding back over the top of the balloon, the hedgehog backed off too a safe distance as they came up towards him, one of them ditching the missiles approach as serrated claws slid out of its hands like knives.

It darted in close for a swipe. Sonic dodged the attempt before swinging his gear around like a base ball bat knocking the robot away. It spiraled away nearly falling off the side of the zeppelin.

The second fired another pair of missiles. Sonic sprung up into the air and bringing his leg around sharply in a kick knocked them both off target. One of them soured harmlessly away but the other swerved and struck the propeller at the back of the Egg Balloon.

The entire thing shook violently as an entire fan blade was blown off with molten fragments spraying everywhere. Several things clicked together in Sonic's head and he grinned.

"Come on circuit brains, here I am!" He waved out his arms as if trying to make himself a more compelling target.

The melee style fighting mech flew at him ready to swipe while the other first a dozens missiles his way.

Sonic dodged the swipes before grabbing the claws and pinning them down and using the robots own momentum he swung it back to face the oncoming missiles.

The projectiles collided with the machine, which exploded instantly; the sheer force throwing Sonic back down onto the Egg Balloon's surface.

The flaming wreckage crashed onto the zeppelin and began burning through the coating.

The clock ticking, the hedgehog somersaulted back up and ran at the second robot. Catching it off guard helmsmen the end of his gear into it, before catching a ride on its shoulders.

Before anything else could happen, the fire ate right through to the hydrogen inside the Egg Balloon.

The explosion threw both Sonic and the robot down towards the ground. The mech took the worst of the blast while Sonic was give a free ride and a tremendous boost of speed.

They both cascaded past dozens of buildings at an alarming speed, tumbling like a piece of flying debris. Riding the shockwave he sped on and one until finally he caught sight of Wave just up ahead.

Regaining control of his board just in time, he came up level with her as the Egg Balloon, still engulfed in flames crashed into the river. The robot who had served as his shield tumbled to the ground and broke up on impact.

"My Balloon!" Eggman declared in angst, watching it disappeared both in fire and water as it struck the river sending large waves smashing against the docks. "Oh the humanity!"

Wave glanced to her side startled as Sonic began competing with her for first place.

"How the hell…" She started. Sonic smiling evilly before ramming the side of his gear against her's, trying to knock her off balance.

They were neck and neck, using every speed gaining trick they knew in an attempt to out pace each other. The air was tense as they neared the Stadium, their gears smashing into each other with sparks flying.

Wave swung back, throwing her full weight to the side nearly tipping Sonic's gear over. Compensating by quickly rearranging his footing the hedgehog swung back with equal force, the two of them desperately trying to out do one another.

The anticipation in the crowd could have been cut with a knife and everything seemed to move in slow motion as they neared the finishing line. Time was reduced to a crawl and then not to move as all, the racers mere inches away from finishing.

Then for a brief second, was Wave forced her way forward it appeared as if she might win.

But Sonic spun around 360 degrees at the last second; clapped his hands towards and fired off a display of swirling blue energy in the form of his Sonic wind attack. While this technique was no means accurate it provided the momentary burst of pure speed he needed, to blast past Wave and sour over the finishing line.

Unable to stop however he carried on, crashed over the ground several times before being flung off his gear and straight into the brick wall surrounding the stadium floor.

"And it's Sonic the Hedgehog again! Sonic had defeated the his second Babylon Rogue and moves on to the finals!"

The roar of the crowd, as well as a loud ringing, filled the hedgehogs ears as he picked himself up out of the debris, shaking the brick dust out of his quills.

Wave came to a stop just after the finishing line, scrapping her foot along the ground as a brake.

"Sorry blue boy." Wave sighed with a faint smile as she picked himself up. "You may have won the race… but I get away with the real prize." She patted her pocket where she had hidden the Emerald.

"So… one out of two. Don't suppose I could get you to tell me why you need them?" He asked.

Wave looked coyly at him before wagging a finger and making a 'sealed lips' sign with the other hand.

Sonic thought for a moment that perhaps, if he moved after enough he could grab the Emerald out of her pocket and make off with it before she could stop him.

He knew of course he wasn't going to do that. She'd got to it first and so that was that.

However that gave Sonic an idea.

"Ok Hedgehog, I don't know how you did it but you've beaten my Rogues." Jet's fury was utterly clear as he appeared on the side. "This is an insult I'll not let pass."

"Oh yeah well bring it on!"

The two of the looked ready to go at each others throats until Wave quickly stepped in.

"Enough both of you. What are you, five years old?"

Jet hissed out through the edges of his beak narrowing his eyes. Sonic managed the most infuriatingly smug grin he could manage.

"Alright Jet, I'll make you a deal." The hedgehog stepped forward, his pose almost threatening. "You have three Emeralds…" He gestured with a movement of his head towards Wave. "I have three Emeralds. We race in the finals and winner take all!"

"Take the deal, Jet." The hawk paused, hearing Eggman's voice in the small communication device hidden inside his feathers near his ear. "We're running out of time and we need those emeralds."

"You're on mammal!" The hawk snapped. "I'll see you on Roc. We'll settle this in the sand dunes of my home planet!"

"Can't wait, ya bag of feathers." The blue hedgehog retorted.

"Oh you're to wish you'd never been born!"

The two of them growled at each other like pit dogs before turning their backs on each other.

Jet stormed off, his feathers ruffling angrily like a frustrated parrot. Sonic watched him go over his shoulders with a bemused expression on his face.

"You're going to regret that." Wave remarked to him in passing. The hedgehog gave her a hard stare. "Why did you make such a foolhardy bet? You could loose everything.

You're going to be facing Jet in the sand dunes of Roc, the place where he learned all the tricks of the trade.

He's on first name terms with every grain of sand in the desert. He knows every turn, every corner and every street in Babylon.

You'll be racing through his home turf and there he'll have the advantage." Sonic said nothing at first, as a small smile parted his lips.

"That's just what I was hoping to hear."

Leaving a startled swallow behind he made for the exit. Wave stood there for a moment, before a grin of her own manifested and she walked away.

Before Sonic could leave he was hailed over by the queens who had descended from the royal box quickly to meet him.

"Good to see you again your majesty." He said greeting her. "I don't usually see you without the king."

"Well he said he had to attend to something import and left for the north country." She explained. "I thought Elise could so with a little fresh air so here we are."

"Wow she's growing fast." The hedgehog commented, wiggling his finger on the nose of the infant. It wasn't an understatement. It may have been a few weeks since she was born but little Elise had almost doubled in size.

Thick red hair was sprouting on the top of her head and was almost to a length where it could be cut.

"Yes she is isn't she?" The queen sighed holding the little infant tighter to her. "I think Solomon's Jotun heritage is showing in her.

The northerners ascend through childhood at the quicker pace than the average human."

"Just how quickly are we talking about here?"

"They reach child bearing age by four." The queen replied flatly. Sonic shuddered involuntarily. "Their mental rate of growth is speed fast as well, but it levels out to normalcy once it reaches a certain age."

"Why do they need to grow so fast?"

"Oh, it's the environment in the north." Ahyra sighed. "It's a frozen wasteland so in order to survive they have to ascend through childhood as quickly as possible."

Sonic looked at the little baby with a strange face.

"Boy that'll be an idea that'll take some getting used to." He admitted. Suddenly his left ear twitched and he glanced back.

Several men were barging through the crowd, all of them armed with rifles and wearing the white robes of the Order of Thunder.

"There's the heretic!" One of them shouted and the others turned to look in Sonic's direction before shoving people aside as they made their way towards him.

"Oh, time to go!" The hedgehog muttered sudden looking alert cupping the gear underneath his arm. "Thank you for the praise, your majesty…" Sonic paused. "Oh and when you see your husband, tell him I said thank you for that gold coin of his. It really helped." With that he raced off, a sudden gust of wind blowing up in his wake nearly knocking the courtiers over.

* * *

Eggman was not surprised when Jet barged uninvited into his office. The doctor stood there with his arms folded behind his back, looking back over his shoulder at the hawk.

"Ok doc. Level with me. What's going on now?" Jet asked with a faint trace of frustration in his voice.

"I can't imagine why you'd be upset." Eggman retorted. "You're sure of your skills aren't you?" The doctor grinned. "You can beat Sonic?"

"Don't try that with me." The hawk added, refusing to be baited. "What's the rush? I thought the Fesonian resistance wasn't in any particular hurry when it came to out right opposition."

Eggman shrugged his shoulder absently.

"The situation has dramatically changed." He muttered tapping his left foot. "We need those Emeralds and soon. Agreeing to that deal is the quickest way of acquiring them."

Jet made a face.

"There's no way you could have finished disturbing your robots by now. This is far too premature."

"I'm aware of that. My marionettes have only been deployed to little under forty five percent of their targets." Eggman carried on with a little melancholy. "That's not enough to directly take down the Confederation." Despite this he managed a short smile. "But that can change."

Jet blinked once.

"What do you mean?" He asked. The doctor turned around to face him completely.

"I need to go to Babylon Garden. I need the Angel Wing."

Silence gripped the room.

The hawk stood there with wide eyes.

"I know that's what your key is for." Eggman carried on breaking the silence after a long pause. "You think I didn't do some research on your group before I asked for your help?

Your father was obsessed with finding the garden. He almost destroyed the Babylon Rouges thieves guild because of his fixation with the promise of so much treasure.

The rumours say he actually found the key to the garden but never the way of using it.

Once I heard about the technology of the Ancient Babylonians from Baal it all fitted into place.

There's something in that place I need and so does my enemy. I have to get to my item first."

"Forget Egg-head, the treasure is mine!" Jet spat finally finding his voice. "I've not spent a decade of research on the ancient Titans to hand the treasure of their garden over to you!" He clenched both fists. "My family's pride won't let me!"

"I require the one thing from Poola the wise." Eggman assured him. "Once I have that, I will destroy the item my enemy wishes to acquire and leave. The treasure that remains is yours to do with however you please."

"You don't seriously expect me to buy that garbage do you?"

Jet, amongst other things, was a pirate. And the life of a pirate, especially a Babylon Rogue, was full of treachery and betrayal where bounds of fellowship were put to the ultimate test.

Jet had been betrayed many times before and wasn't about to start trusting people so recklessly.

"You where planning this all along weren't you? You were planning to betray us and take the treasure for yourself!"

"Don't be a fool!" Eggman snapped. "There's more at stake here than your insatiable greed!"

"As of this moment our contract is ended!" Jet stated ignoring him. "I can get enough Emeralds to activate the key on my own. I neither need nor want your help."

"And what about your groups commitment to the Fesonian resistance?"

"Why should I care what happens to those newts?" The hawk asked. "The only reason I even so much as share information with them is because they had data concerning the key.

Now they're as useless to me as you are."

"You're nothing but a thief ruled by his own greed. Without a shred of loyalty and honour!"

"Oh, and this from the man who betrayed his own planet? That's rich." Eggman paused at Jet's retort, making a strange face. "Adios, ya hypocrite. Thanks for the memories." Before the doctor could stop him the Falcon was out the door slamming it after him.

Eggman stared after him for a few moments before he slumped his shoulders.

"Very well, Jet." He sighed, snorting angrily. "You've made your bed. Now you can lie in it."


	35. Episode 18, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO! 

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 18: Chaotix and the mystery of the Miracle Planet

* * *

Espio said nothing.

Despite the burning need to open his mouth at this most opportune time, he said nothing.

After all he wasn't stupid.

Still, Charmy was not that intellectually inclined.

"Gee Vector, you're plans always stink." The bee sighed, hovering around the reptiles head. The other three members of Chaotix cringed and watched the vein on their leader's neck pulse angrily.

Presently their ship was sitting, quite literally, in a mountain of garbage.

Separating Combine Federation space and Imperial Confederate space was a long strip of nothingness called the badlands. This was the empty space in between the spiral arms in this part of the galaxy, where there were no stars or planets for thousands of light-years

The Confederate's had barricaded their side of the badlands to the point where it was nearly impregnable. Even Vector wasn't stupid enough to charging in, cannons blazing in the 'man on horseback to the rescue style'. So instead Chaotix waited near a debris field which had been left by a clash between the Com-Fed and Fesonian newts.

As Vector had anticipated, the Confederation eventually event several large vessels to collect the debris. These massive ships had hulls that opened wide like mouths, pulling all the broken metal inside. This salvage, the Crocodile supposed, would be taken back to their own space to be melted down and recycled.

Allowing their ship to be drawn in by the salvager, Chaotix were given a free ticket and a Trojan horse style disguise into Confederation controlled space.

That part of the plan, at least, had gone swimmingly. What Vector hadn't counted on was that the salvager would regularly pump a type of corrosive gas into its container to help break the massive lumps of reclaimed metal down.

Their ships shields could keep it from eating their ride but the smell of the stuff would filter thought and it was incredibly foul smelling.

"And when I say stink... I really mean stink." Charmy help his nose to emphasise just how terrible the smell was.

Vector swung his tail up in an attempt to bat the insect away. Charmy dodged the flimsy attempt, sticking his tongue out.

"Seriously man can't you turn the air conditioning on or something?" Beck asked, holding a clothe over his mouth and nose.

"We're on silent running for a reason people." Vector reminded them. "The slightest use of power and they'll know we're in here."

Their red ship, 'borrowed' as Vector put it from a depot on Chimera, had been submerged under a small covering of metallic debris. It was enough to shield their intact ship from detection and provided a good visual camouflage.

"And part of silent running is knowing when to keep quiet so shut ya yaps." With that he turned away, folded his arms in front of himself and hung his head as if he intended to take a nap.

Since they were all aware of how important this particular 'case' was to Vector, even Charmy, they all kept their mouths shut from then on.

Although Vector had too much pride to come out and directly say it, the reptile blamed himself for what happened to Vanilla. Although there hadn't been any way for him to prevent her abduction he still felt responsible for leaving her behind on Earth and at the mercy of the Confederation after the invasion.

Rei went rigid back in his chair, eyes wide as he made a short affirmative sound; his entire body alert.

"What's wrong?" Espio asked.

"I can hear the thoughts of some of the crew. We're nearing the border into Confederation space." He stated and then sudden looked a little worried. "We've got a problem." The flying squirrel added turning to look at Vector. The crocodile glanced back at him over his shoulder. "I just heard the thoughts of their ships captain. Its standard practice to scan their ships contents for organic life when they enter port, to prevent the spread of foreign bacteria."

"Which they destroy?" Beck asked.

"Got it in one."

Charmy gave out a small yelp and cowered behind Espio. Vector simply grunted closing an eye.

"Ok yose guys. Keep it together. Let me do the work."

Espio left as if someone just walked over his grave.

"Rei, I need to know when we're heading into port." The reptile told the squirrel, who nodded once and closed his eyes trying to concentrate. Rei's gift was often quite random but lately he had been practicing trying to target the thoughts of specific people. The experience was coming in handy as now more than ever they needed to alert to possible danger.

Sometimes, Rei had to the ability to sense the location of some item they required but unfortunately this form of psychic ability was even less refined than his other abilities, reacting completely on its own refusing to be precise.

"We've just past the borderlines." He stated suddenly. "We're heading towards a planet called…" The squirrel paused as if in deep concentration. "A planet called Goliath." He looked up towards Vector. "It's a slave pit Vector."

"A slave pit?" The crocodile repeated.

"Slaves are taken there after raids on planets. They're labeled and categorized before being taken to Feson for distribution."

A small smile parted Vector's lips and a sadistic hint set itself in his eyes.

"Then it's safe to say that Vanilla was brought here first?" Rei just shrugged in reply. Still grinning Vector gripped the controls of the ship and began readying the vessel for movement.

"They're going to start the scan any minute now." Rei muttered.

"Whatatawedowhattwedowhattawedo!" Charmy asked looking panic stricken. There was a sudden loud groaning and the massive hull doors on the underside of the craft began to swing open. The metallic debris was kept from floating off by a long series of electromagnets that switched on when the doors were open to the pull of the planet the ship was now settling into orbit around.

Goliath was a small world despite its name, covered completely in swirling golden clouds. Even from this strange and angle, dozens of orbiting space stations were visible administering to the needs of other space ships.

Smaller ships began to approach the salvager, shining a light up into the outside. These were the inspector due to make a manual inspection of the collected inventory before the scan for organic life was made.

Vector fired a laser beam from their ships main weapons directly up, striking the electromagnets holding the metal in place. Parts of the device exploded and the rest fizzled with left over energy before dying.

Freed from binding, dozens of giant pieces of metallic shards and other shattered pieces of debris began to float off, some large fragments being pulled down towards the oncoming ships. Vector simply let their own ship drift out along with the debris and in the chaos they weren't spotted as they were pulled into orbit around Goliath.

"Ok, your plan's working so far but what now?" Espio asked as Vector guided their ship towards the orbiting space stations using a minimum of effort as to keep the illusion that they were mere floating garbage.

"Shh." The crocodile went to them, placing a finger at the end of his snout. "If I'm right, as soon as those station guys see us getting close they'll…" The entire ship shook as some invisible force latched onto it. It hung there static for a moment before moving in a straight line towards the station.

"A tractor beam?" Beck asked looking out the window. Vector grinned.

"Ok people, I take it you've all seen Star Wars episode 4?" All of Chaotix nodded simultaneously. "Remember that bit where the Millennium Falcon is pulled onboard the Death Star by a tractor beam? Well we're going to be doing a little re-enactment."

"Can I be Solo?" Charmy asked raising a hand.

The tractor beam brought the station, tugging it at varying angles until it fitting into one of the docking bays. A security team was at once dispatched to investigate. They pulled open the cargo bay doors from the outside and infiltrated the ship.

"It had a Combined Federation serial number." One of them announced. "And the basic design is from the Falcon admiralty."

"Any crew aboard?" The office in charge asked.

"No sir." The Fesonian replied shaking his head. "None, dead or alive. But there was a large amount of food in the galley, all fresh."

"Abandoned wreckage from the Salvager possibly. Ok, keep her in dock until the maintenance teams can get here for dismantling. Place a guard detail on the entrance. No one but ranking personnel go in or out."

"Yes sir."

Two guards were left to guard the attached gangplank from the station while the others went off apparently satisfied. Once all observers were gone, Vector pushed the large metallic lid off from the top of a small hidden compartment in the roof of the cockpit.

"You are to say nothing." He told Espio as he descended out.

"I can't imagine I could say anything to a movie stunt actually working." The chameleon replied frankly "When did you have these compartments built?"

"Actually they were already built into the ship when we hijacked it." The crocodile replied. "Er.. I mean… borrowed it!" He added quickly correcting himself. "Looks like that depot had some shady dealings."

"So what now?"

The gravity had been shut off so floating down Vector had to grab a hold of a seat to keep himself from drifting away.

"The planet below is mostly gas. Most of the technical stuff'll be carried out here on the station." He claimed. "If Vanilla was brought through here, this station'll have the info."

"That's an unusually clear thought for you." The chameleon remarked narrowing an eye.

"I'm a man with a mission." Vector stated with uncharacteristic calm. There was a loud clank as metal struck metal and the compartment hidden beneath the seats in the cockpit tried to push itself open.

"Help!" Charmy's voice called up from below when the bee realized he couldn't get out.

"Ok, so what now?" Espio asked as the crocodile pried the hidden compartment open. "We can't go outside the ship. Confederation military installations are Fesonian only areas. We'll be shot on sight."

"Well it's a good thing we're not going to be leaving the ship then." Vector said with a grin as the now claustrophobic bee scrambled out with Rei and Beck close behind him.

Going over to the ships control panel, he began typing, judging just how well the connection between the ship and the station was.

"Ah yes, we've got a direct line to their computers."

This was more luck than anything else. Thinking that the ship was deserted, the Confederates hadn't bothered to lock out control of their main frame from the dock they were in. With the ship connected to that dock they could access the station's computer files.

"Espio, Beck; care to do the honors?"

The human cracked his knuckles with a smirk before sitting himself down next to the chameleon. He and Espio were rivals in hacking skills. Between them they could just about break their way into any protected system.

Their hands were a blur on the keyboards in front of them as they typed, tripping up the alarm systems while at the same time navigating their way to the central information databank.

"Man, the Confed-Newts have a weird way of organizing data." Espio grunted, trying to work out the strange holographic neon green displays that appeared before them above the console.

"Er… Vector." Charmy started, beckoning the crocodile to the window but keeping his eyes forward. Vector looked over his shoulder. From the window they could see the dock entrance which happened to have a see-through glass roof.

The two guards left outside were talking to a Fesonain officer, who just happened to have behind him about half a dozen soldiers.

"If they notice the activity in here, we're dead." Vector muttered quietly so Charmy couldn't hear him. "How's it coming guys?"

"I got as far as the menu for the station cafeteria." Espio replied dryly. "It's going to be a while so get off our backs."

The tense minutes began to tick by and Vector observed more and more activity on the dock. Soldiers and works teams were gathered and conversing. They were preparing to take the ship apart and distribute the salvage.

"Problem." Beck stated and everyone looked up. "I've found what we're looking for. It's the roster, the list of departure times of slave transport vessels and destinations for the past two years."

"What's the problem then?" Vector asked.

"It's surrounded by a protection software." Beck replied warily. "With Espio's help I can hack my way into it but as soon as a start a download, they're going to notice."

Vector forged a frown, showing off all of his teeth unintentionally.

This was not going to be one of the better moments of his career, he was sure of that already.

"We're out of time anyway." He stated, taking up his position in the pilot's seat. "Do it."

Espio and Beck cast each other a glance, before turning back to their work. Charmy made a large audible gulp as Rei kept a close eye on the activity outside.

"Ok we're in." Espio announced.

"Commencing download of slave roster." Beck added, typing in the last entry command.

Almost instantly loud alarms began blaring out across the station, alarms that could be heard even on the ship. Red lights flashed on and off at the dock and the Fesonians there looked alarmed.

The officers began reaching for the communications devices at their belts trying to find out what was wrong.

"50 percent of files downloaded." Beck reported. "We need another minute."

"We don't have another minute." Rei replied, looking down through the window as soldiers began moving towards the dock.

"68 percent of files downloaded, just another forty seconds."

"We're pulling out any second now people so strap in your seat belts." Vector announced, typing away to jam down the controls on the ship entry; denying access the Confederate soldiers.

"89 percent, ten seconds!"

Vector's grip tightened on the controls, sweat beginning to seep out through his scales.

"I've disengaged the magnetic docking clamps at the station." Espio shouted up from his last minute work. "We're good to go."

"95 percen!t" The Fesonians were trying to batter their way onto the ship by now, wedging a prying device into the gap between the doors to try and pry it open.

100! All downloaded!"

"Alright, let's go!"

Firing up the main thrusters, Vector sent the ship rocketing out of the station causing damage to the dock in the process. Debris carried out after them in a tremendous discharge.

Instantly the station control attempted to catch their ship with another tractor beam, but this time Vector activated the magnetic generator at the base of the ship, disrupting the artificial gravitational pull.

"I let you draw me in last time, gonna have to do better than that." Vector stated as their ship shot out of the station's range.

With a rocketing boom, two Confederation attack ships shot out of docks on the far side of the station and curving around made a bee-line for the fleeing vessel.

"I hope you've got a plan Vector, 'cause this dinky tub can't match a single Confederate ship in firepower, never mind two." Espio told him.

"Don't worry, we won't be doing any fighting." Vector replied.

"I hope you can back that statement up." Rei declared, watching out the side window as the two Confederation vessels soared in towards them; the turrets on their underside rotating around to face them.

"You bet I can." The crocodile said within grin, flipping a switch.

At the back of their vessel one of the cargo bay doors opened up and the vacuum of space sucked the contents out.

Amongst the metallic debris were several specially prepared containers. They flew back into the path of the oncoming ships.

As soon as they made contact they exploded in a gigantic display of light, blinding the crew of each bridge. The two vessels veered close to striking each other in the chaos.

"I'm acting a short range jump, hold on!" Vector shouted slamming a hand down on the controls.

"Oh, I hate this part." Charmy muttered, holding onto the seat in front of him for dear life

The back thrusters of their ship blared like a star before a brief moment before the entire vessel faded from reality, propelling itself underneath normal space and vanishing before the Confederation ships could recover.

* * *

"You had that whole thing planned out didn't you?" Espio asked placing his hands on his hips. Vector nodded with a wide smug grin. "Ok… I know for the fact you never plan ahead so what's all this about?" 

"This is one job I can't afford to take a chance on old buddy." The croc replied. "Vanilla's counting on us… on me... To get her back to her little baby and that's something I intend to do."

"No argument here." The chameleon muttered. "So did we get what we need from the roster?"

Vector nodded and sat down in the command chair, punching up the downloaded files. Thousands of written lines, all inscribed in the Fesonians weird language appeared in a holo display.

"That's info's somewhere in here." He stated, examining one of the written lines more closely. The translator device built into the ship was having trouble decoding it and the letters were appearing slowly on by one.

"It could take us hours to look through all this!" The chameleon gagged looking distraught.

"Well than we'd best get started don't ya think?"

The two of them got to work while Beck, Rei and Charmy checked the ship over to make sure they were still in working order. The short jump Vector had initiated had taken them deeper into Confederation territory. They were now in orbit around a barren planet with the Confederates didn't seem to have any presence. Just to be on the safe side, they were using the planet's moon to hide themselves from any possible passing patrols.

"Got it!" Vector declared triumphantly, standing up to get a better look at the holographic display. Espio leaned over to get a better look.

"Entries for the arrival and departure of slaves from a planet conquered in the Sirius star system, third planet of the solar system." He said, reading what was written. "That's Earth alright."

"According to this, slave ships are usually brought though Goliath before being taken to Feson. There they get scanned for technological knowledge before being distributed to various mining colonies." Vector started. "But this says there was a sudden change of orders and the regular transports were diverted."

"Diverted?" Espio repeated. "Why would they be diverted?" Vector shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno. Maybe these Confed newts got some project in the works. Who cares… point is; Vanilla's name was down on the roster line of the slaves."

"So what's the destination?"

Vector brought up his finger and placed it over the information he was looking at.

"Planet Archon. It's even giving us coordinates for the place."

"So what's the plan?" That was the question they all asked almost in unison when Chaotix was briefed on their mission.

"Plan? Who needs a plan to go flying in, cannons blazing?" Vector asked, a sadistic expression passing over his reptilian features.

"Ok, I think we've reached the limit of our leader's tactical skill." Espio muttered with a soft groan. "We're going up against a heavily guarded Confederation fortress.

A direct assault with only this cruiser is suicide and you know it Vector."

Vector looked back at them, before slumping his shoulders.

"Yeah I know." He replied. "I guess we're just going to have to sneak in."

"How does one sneak onto a planet?" Beck asked with a raised eyebrow.

That was the part none of them could get their heads around. When an object entered a planet's atmosphere it lit up the sky as it met with atmospheric friction. Even if the Confederates didn't have advanced technology their approach was definitely going to be noticed.

Espio put them into a course in the relative direction of Archon. They could have jumped the whole way but until they came up with a plan it was better to buy their time.

"There's got to be a way." Vector muttered, putting his feet up on the console and his arms behind his head. "Got to try thinking outside the box."

"Just thinking 'in' the box would be a first." Espio groaned, equally as frustrated with the lack of useful suggestions.

"Look at all those rocks!" Charmy stated, staring out the window. They were passing close to a gas planet that, like Saturn, had rings around it. The ice and rock in orbit occasionally battered against the hull of the ship as they flew by.

"Put up the shields." Vector yawned without looking up. "I've no wish to be hit by an asteroid before…" The crocodile froze in mid sentence, his eyes slowly widening. "Asteroid…" He repeated with intense anticipation before he somersaulted off the chair and onto his feet. "Asteroids! That's it!"

The other Chaotix members glanced in his direction with confused expressions on their faces.

"Espio, would an asteroid say about the size of this ship cause much of a concern to the Confederates?" The croc asked turning on the smaller reptile.

"No not really." Espio replied, now a little worried about their leader's mental state. "This ship's kinda small. An asteroid that size would probably burn up in the astrosphere and the newts wouldn't pay a blind bit of notice." He raised an eyebrow. "Why, what are you getting at?"

Vector smiled evilly.

* * *

The security perimeter around the solar system was tight. Confederations ships patrolled regularly and a scan of each and every planet in orbit around the sun was conducted daily. Ground to orbit guns were placed at the poles of every planet and moon as well, insuring that no one landed on the planets without authorization. 

This solar system was a purely Confederate military only zone. Even civilian vessels from their own race were fired upon without warning.

When an asteroid was detected moving past the orbit of the furthest planet, a scout was sent to intercept and survey. The images the unmanned probe sent back revealed it to be little more than a collective lump of ice and rock.

It went ignored by the security, which simply let it float past unhindered.

In actuality, the asteroid was hollow. It was a makeshift covering, thrown together from parts taken from the ringed planet. Inside, Chaotix's ship was hidden. A burst of speed from their engines had pushed them in this direction and now they were simply riding the wave, keeping to silent running to prevent being detected.

"Ah ha, suckers." Charmy giggled.

"If even Confederate civilian transport ships aren't allowed near the place, what they need the slaves for here has to be big." Beck muttered, leaning forward to get a better look at the formidable defence they were passing by.

"And not even their general public's allowed to know about it." Espio added with a stern expression, tapping his foot. "I don't get it. If this is such a high security area, how can we be getting away with this?"

"There's your answer." Vector replied, pointing off to the side. There was an asteroid belt in this solar system, in orbit around their sun between the first and second planets. Occasionally rouge metros would break away to be drawn down by the gravity of differing planets. "Asteroids must be falling down to Archon so often they don't even pay attention to it anymore."

"Quiet, we're passing by a Confederation convoy." Rei stated. A shadow passed over the hidden ship as dozens of battleship, a few cargo vessels past by. In their midst was another ship the likes of which was unforgettable.

"Is that what I think it is?" Beck asked staring out the window. The gigantic vessel passing them by in amongst the Confederation vessels was gigantic, with spread wings and a long dipping hull; a collection of powerful looking thrusters at the back. The icon of their empire spread out across its front.

They had seen a ship of this class before.

An Ymir.

Only three of their like had ever been built by the Confederates, one of which had chased the Typhoon all the way to the planet Chimera before it was driven back.

"Keep quiet, remember silent running." Vector muttered under his breath. "We'll be ok… we just keep going."

A minute ticked by with them all sweating bullets before they past the colossal ship and the convoy headed away. The crocodile let out a very long sigh of relief.

"Ok, if they've got an Ymir here than whatever's happening on Archon must be huge." Beck suggested.

"We're nearing the fourth planet. That's Archon." Espio stated, turning to the console and typing. "I'll put it up a display of it now."

There was a short buzzing and for a moment all the hologram displayed was snow, before the image began to clear.

"Woah…" Was all Vector found he could say at the sight.

As incredible as it seemed, in orbit around Archon was another planet; a small world about twice the size of a moon with a thick atmosphere of white churning clouds around it.

Bridging the gap between Archon and this bizarre satellite was a colossal chain, a metallic link that quite literally bound the two planets together. The links dozens of miles long, one each attached to the surface of Archon and the other.

The chain links themselves had to be massive, about the size of an entire city block or even larger.

"Now that sure ain't something you see everyday." Beck muttered breaking the silence as Chaotix stood there staring at the phenomenon with open mouths.

"And it certainly fit's the description of something 'top-secret'." Rei added with wide eyes.

"But that the hell is that and what are they using it for?" Espio asked. The silence endured for a moment longer as nobody had the answer to any of the questions.

"Who cares?" Vector asked. "Vanilla's on that small planet, I'm sure of it, and we're going in to get her out." The crocodile turned and stared at them all with a flat expression. "Any objections?"

"None with me boss." Beck replied, smacking a fist into an open palm. "I've been waiting to pay those newts back for what they did to Earth."

"Same here." Espio added, flipping a shuriken around between his finger.

"We gonna get Cream's mom back!" Charmy shouted thumping a fist into the air. Rei gave the reptile a thumb's up.

A single short blast from the ships thrusters was enough to change its trajectory just enough so it was heading in the direction they needed to go.

"We're being pulled down by the smaller planet's gravity." Espio reported as their disguised ship tilted, nose down towards the little planet.

"Ok guys, we can't use the thrusters or they'll detect us." Vector stated. "So this is going to be a bumpy ride."

All around the fake asteroid, the pale orange glow of atmospheric friction sprang up and parts of the disguise began flaking off in the heat.

"They haven't started shooting at us yet." Beck reported as the ship shook around them.

"Dropping, fifty thousand feet. Forty five thousand feet, forty. Dropping speed accelerating." Rei was saying, counting off the reading from the console. "Vector if we don't slow down we're going to crash!"

"Wait until we reach twenty thousand feet. Then fire the inertial thrusters." The crocodile shouted back. "They won't detect a small burst like that and it'll cushion our landing."

"Seat belts on anyway!" Espio added.

Charmy complied instantly.

There was a patch of intense turbulence as they began to clear the cloud cover over their landing zone. Wisp of white spun around the monitor display before revealing the land below.

"Holy mother of… Vector, guys, take a look at this." Beck began staring at the display. Despite the chaos of attempting to land without thrusters all of them could not help but take a look.

The landscape of this planet was beautiful. It was a never ending forest that only came to a stop when it encountered the start of a pristine ocean. The air was clear and the sky completely clear.

Even Earth hadn't been this breathtaking.

But its beauty wasn't what attracted their attention. It was the only ugly blemish on its surface.

Etched into the planet, like a giant wound, was a pit. A colossal hole in the ground that seemed to span a good quarter of the globe. Where the pit met water, a massive stone wall had been erected to prevent it from spilling down.

At regular intervals, making a square, were four massive curving towers that looked like the talons of some bird of prey; all of them curving inwards to hang over the abyss.

The chain that linked this planet to the larger Archon, still visible in the sky started at the edge of the pit and worked its way up into the sky beyond the line of sight.

"Is that what they're working on here?" Beck asked.

"We can ponder that later, fire the damn inertial thrusters!" Vector shouted and coming out of the stunned awe in time Espio slammed a fist down on the controls.

The rockets at the back of the ship roared to life, breaking apart the asteroid disguise and revealing the ship to all. The effect slowed the decent of the vessel down but not enough to prevent a crash.

Realizing he had to act quickly, Vector took the controls and drove the ship into a dive; aiming the nose of the ship directly at the surface of the planet's ocean.

With a tremendous splash, the ship divided into the way; the heat from re-entry sending up bellowing clouds of steam and a geyser that shoot a good hundred feet into the air before sinking.

The ship went down deep, appeared to be sinking, before slowly it began to ascend back up. After a minute it broke the surface and began bopping up and down like a floating piece of driftwood.

"See, what did I tell you guys…" Vector asked with a grin as Espio, Rei, Beck and Charmy sat in their seats paralysed with terror and trembling. "Nothing to worry about!"

Short bursts from the thrusters angled them towards the shore and Vector beached the ship in a sandy cove overshadowed by a cliff face. Estimating it was high tide, he drove the ship as hard into the sand as he could almost to the large rocks to keep it from being dragged out.

"I hope you've a plan for getting us off this planet." Espio muttered once he regained his composure. "The asteroid disguise won't work when we need to leave."

"One thing at a time huh?" Vector replied, dusting himself off before he pushed the door to the outside of the ship open. The blast of fresh air that hit them was incredible. It was so fresh was unbelievable. They had all been used to tasting a little smoke in the air they breathed. That had been true on Chimera and even Earth but not here. Here the air was so fresh Vector nearly gagged on it.

Scrambling out of the rocket, Vector dropped to the beech and ran up the cove. Climbing over the rocky surface, he pulled himself up and got the most spectacular view.

The planet was so small that from here you could really see its curvature.

The surface of this small world was like their home world of Mobius, the counter-earth. He had to blink in surprise.

The sky was pure blue, the grass beneath their feet green and the thick forest made up from luscious evergreens.

For a single moment he had been half convinced he had gone back there. The only thing spoiling the illusion was the sight of the pit through the gaps in the trees.

"I'll scout ahead." Espio announced, coming up next to him. "I should be about forty five minutes. If I'm not back by then start on without me."

Vector nodded once.

The chameleon's outline faded, before the colour drained from his body and he went completely invisible. So skilled in the art of stealth Vector didn't even see him leap from tree to tree above the forest floor.

Some damage had been done to the ship during the falling and some minor repair work had to be attempted. Since none of them had the slightest clue about space ship maintenance it was a matter of guess work that proved to be more disastrous than successful.

By the time Rei had finished buffing out the dents in the armor, Espio returned from his scouting; appearing a short distance away and walking the rest of the way in so they could see him.

"I took a look at that pit thing." He reported. ". Slaves, lots of them working on constructing it. Don't know exactly what it is yet."

"Did you see Vanilla?" Vector asked eagerly with wide eyes. Espio shook his head.

"I couldn't get close enough to see. There are Confederation soldiers and Giants everywhere along its entire perimeter and they've an infra-red detection system." The crocodile grunted in frustration. "Sorry boss."

"Don't call me boss, Espio, it sounds like empty flattery."

"Any other facilities?" Rei asked. Espio shook his head.

"Nope. The rest of the planet looks to be pretty much nothing but wilderness. All the Confederation activity is at that pit."

"Ok. If that's where the action is then that's where we're going." The croc added with a grin.


	36. Episode 18, part 2

Collecting a few broken branches from the forest floor, Chaotix worked together a make shift camouflage net and past it over their ship to hide it. Once they dragged it further up the beach to a place where it wasn't so conspicuous they left it there, semi-confident it would not be disturbed until they got back.

With Espio leading them, they made their way inland from the ocean; climbing over the rocky terrain until they reached the forest floor.

The evergreen wilderness was a perfect place from which to observer the pit without being seen. The bushes and whole mass of canopy was so utterly dense and thick it was impossible to pick anything distinct out even close up, never mind at long range.

"Ok, this could take longer than I thought." Vector admitted sourly.

There had to be over a million slaves here, all toiling on the stone work; all being watched by the comparatively smaller number of guards.

Vanilla could be anywhere amongst them, even on the far side of the pit miles away. The feeling of being both near and far sent angry waves of frustration down his spine.

What kept the slaves from rebelling by use of the shear numbers were the giants, the mutated Fesonian living siege weapons, standing around hear and there.

Vector had seen them in action before. Those monstrosities took out a Mech with their bare hands.

Malnourished slaves didn't stand much of a chance.

From here, he could count about fifty Giants and over two hundred regular foot soldiers.

The slaves were all different races from different planets, all working on the same task. Anyone who stumbled was whipped until they got back up. If they wouldn't, or quite often couldn't get back up one of the Giants would simply step of them.

Vector had the misfortune of being in the right place at the right time when one of the alien slaves, an insect like being, too tired to carry on was crushed by the two massive toes.

The death served as an example to the near exhausted others, who carried on working a little faster.

"And I thought Eggman owned the market of evil." Beck muttered through clenched teeth, staring at the stomach turning scene from the undergrowth. "What I wouldn't give to teach these bastards a thing or two..."

"Keep a lid on it hotshot. We aren't here to start a revolution, remember?" Rei, who was crouching nearby, reminded him. "Now… how are we gonna get down there without being seen?"

"We can't." Espio stated, pointing off towards the side of the cliff face that ran for a good long way along the side of the abyss. Supported by a framework was a tower of some kind, attached to the near vertical surface. A large glass dome at on the top, a Fesonian soldier standing guard inside. "I can see from here, that's an infra red detector.

We go another few meters and we're gonna be picked up no matter what we do."

"Come on guys, this is the last hurdle." Vector told them. "We stole data from one of their stations and escaped. We floated past an Ymir without being noticed and crash landed on a planet inside an asteroid.

Let's not stop now, we're on a roll!"

"We could get in by pretending to be slaves?" Charmy ventured.

"And how would we get out again if something goes wrong?" Espio asked dryly giving him a flat sideways glance.

"Don't put the kid down Esp, that might work." Vector added, tapping the end of his snout with a finger.

"Really?" The bee asked with wide eyes.

"Ok, now take off your shoes." The crocodile said with a grin, earning him bizarre glances from the rest of them. "I'm perfectly serious. Off with them. Tear holes in your shirts and roll in the dirt a little. We're gonna have to look the part if we're going to get away with this."

Eventually complying with the request, Vector had his group looking quite weather beaten. Just to add a few finishing touches, just as messing up Beck's hair and putting Charmy's goggles at a slant and they were ready.

"Right, you all ready?"

"Ready?" Espio repeated with wide eyes. "We're about to go into a heavily guarded site full to the brim with Alien slavers. Of course we're not ready." He relaxed his shoulders. "But we're going to do it anyway so let's just get on with it."

Vector smiled showing off all his teeth.

Instead of creeping down the side of the slope towards the site, they walked out in plain daylight and in sight of the guards.

"What are you slaves doing outside the perimeter?" A fesonian soldiers demanded as they tried to get past him. He was brandishing a large laser rifle like weapon and did not sound like he was in a very good mood.

There was a mark of a jagged encircling shell on his arm.

"We were ordered to check the edges for…er… wild animal's sir." Vector said quickly. "We're reporting back for the work shift now."

The Confederation soldiers looked them over with a skeptical eye.

Vector silently prayed he wouldn't notice they were far better condition than the other slaves down below.

Luckily, the soldier had other places to be and waved them through.

"I don't know what's more scary." Espio muttered under his breath. "The situation we're in, or the fact Vector's actually thinking ahead."

"Bite me."

The guards ignored the five of them as they made their way down into the working pit. As far as they were concerned, Chaotix was merely a small collection of slaves heading back in to start working again.

However, there was a very nasty moment when they past close to one of the Giants. It snorted at them as they tried to move past and the way it moved, Vector was half convinced it was preparing to step on them. Instead the thing walked past, the sound of its heavy footstep echoing behind it.

"Let's get in, find the gal and get out. This place is giving me the creeps." Beck muttered.

"We can't just leave all these people here…" Charmy protested looking distraught. Vector signed and missed up his antenna with a hand.

"You've a good heart kid. Believe me, I don't like the idea of leaving them here anymore than you do but even 'IF' by some miracle we did free all these people than what would we do with them?

Our ship only carries so many."

The pained and anxious expression on the young bee's face did not change.

"I know, I know. This stinks but there's nothing we can do about it." He patted him on the shoulder. "We'll get as many out as we can, I promise. But for now let's just find Cream's mom, ok?"

They spilt up, going separate ways hoping to cover more ground. Vector and Charmy heading further down into the pit area where the slaves were pulling the piles of rock and dirt away to make room for construction. This area was sparsely guarded and only appeared to have a single Giant as a rebellion deterrent standing by.

This was because the slaves here were in the worst shape and not considered to be much of a threat. Vector had to press his scaly lips tightly together to stop himself from screaming in rage at the sight of such depravity.

The slaves where thin, clearly not receiving regular feeding and many of them marked with lash wounds from whips.

Carts on rails were being pulled away from the cliff wall where the earth was being cleared to make room. The loaded carts were then taken to the side of a pit some distance away and dumped down into the dark abyss.

Vector noticed one slave, a human; was having trouble pushing one of the carts. He was tired, that was clear just from a single glance and hadn't the necessary strength to keep going.

The slave stumbled suddenly, his cart turning over and hitting the ground with a loud thud with the contents spilling out. The other slaves looked up, expecting to see a Confederate slave driver appearing but the incident had apparently gone unnoticed.

"Watch it, you're gonna do yourself an injury." Vector started, pulling the man up into a sitting position as Charmy cleared off the rocks had had half buried him from the cart.

"Vector, is that you?"

The crocodile blinked at the sound of his name and looked more closely at the man's features.

He was very thin and pale, with middle length black hair running down the back of his head. Despite the new beard and lack of glasses Vector recognized him.

"Tanaka?" He asked. The man nodded.

This was the Thorndyke's butler, or at least he had been. Vector had met him once before, although not under the best of circumstances.

"Good god, what have they done to you?" Vector asked. Tanaka appeared to be half the man he once was. He was much thinner and appeared to have some grey in his hair, along with a few premature wrinkles. He had gashes, old and new on his bare back and arms.

"I had what they called a 'discipline problem'." The butler replied. "I think you can guess how they solve those kind of problems."

"Bastards!" Vector snarled.

"Those on the transport ships weren't great, treated us like goods to sell…" Tanaka continued. "But the Fesonian here are far worse. They treat us like animals, like vermin.

When they're not enough food to go around, they don't hesitate in killing some to make room."

Vector's heart leapt into his throat at that point. Despite how angry he felt as the injustice of it all, he could not help but think about Vanilla.

"I don't remember seeing you on the transports." Tanaka ventured.

"That's because this is a jail break." The crocodile whispered to him. The expression on the butler's face changed dramatically. "Shhh, keep it under your hat. We're here to get as many of you out as we can."

Vector paused to look around to make sure no one else was watching.

"I don't suppose you have some kind of committee here? Some organized element amongst the slaves?"

"Yes… we… we have a community if you will." Tanaka groaned as Charmy and Vector pulled him up to his feet. "This way."

Tanaka directed him to where the slaves were allowed to sleep, eat and rest between the harsh work shifts. It was a pathetic looking collection of huts and buildings, although large enough to be considered a slum.

"No, not in there." Tanaka stated as Vector made a move towards it. "The guards have bugged every room. They spy on us twenty four hours a day." The butler made a sudden gesture off towards a separate path that lead away from the slums and around the back of the area.

Vector followed his directions, where he and Charmy found that tucked behind the buildings was a make shift encampment with dozens of filthy clothe tents where many workers lay, being treated for wounds and infections by their fellows. The scene was like the aftermath of some battle with the wounded all laid out.

Vector had to stop in his tracks and stare at it. He knew the Confederates weren't going to be nice people but this took him completely by surprise.

Given the high security of the area it was clear the Confederate government did not want their population from finding out about this place. Did that mean this level of cruelty was unacceptable even to them? Yet their hierarchy continued on anyway?

The detective in Vector screamed in outrage that this should happen on his watch.

"Tanaka, are you alight?" Someone started, running up to help the crocodile with the man he was supporting. The helper was human with medium length brown hair and tanned skin. His clothes had once been formal wear but had been reduced to little more than rags on his body.

Vector did not know the man but Charmy recognised him.

"Hey look its Chris' dad!" The bee declared and the man froze, nearly dropping the butler.

"Chris?" He repeated. "You know my son?"

"Get the committee together Mr. Thorndyke." Tanaka told him, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "We can talk there."

To their surprise, Vector and Charmy discovered that the leader of this committee of slaves was none other than the President. Or least, the previous President; known only as Michael.

This was the man who led their planet through the siege of the Eggman Empire, the Black Arms, the insurrection by the Elite and even the assault of the Machine Federation. After he stepped down from his position voluntarily to maintain the democracy he worked so hard to protect, the government had been quickly usurped by the Hexagon organization.

Michael was considered by many to be the last 'legitimate' president of the United States before the world was brought under G.U.N control.

The former President had, like most of the others, thinned and paled considerably.

"It's not exactly the Buckingham Palace but it's the only place they don't bother to bug." Michael replied with a short shrug, gesturing around the small tent where they gathered. It was made of patched together canvas, hole in the fabric sewn together loosely and hung over a thin metal frame.

"Chris… Chris where is he?" A woman cried, bursting into the tent.

It was Lindsey, a former actress abducted from Earth like her husband during the invasion.

"Lindsey, calm down." Nelson said, standing up and holding her back as she rushed towards Vector frantically.

"Chris. I need to know is he alright?" She carried on, nearly pushing Nelson over.

"Take it easy lady." Vector assured her. "When we left him, he was with Sonic and he was fine."

Her eyes were suddenly filled with an intense relief and despite herself she started crying, falling back into her husbands arms for support.

"I can't tell you how happy we are to hear that." Nelson told him. "The fact we didn't know what happened to him hurt more than any whip could."

"Well he's doing fine with his Grandfather and his friends."

"His friends?" Nelson repeated. "Danny, Francis and Helen? We saw them loaded on a transport back on Earth."

Charmy grinned sadistically.

"We paid a visit to the ship and kicked serous butt!"

"We incepted it before it reached Confederation space." Vector ventured. "Saved a lot of others from Earth as well. Some guys called the Combine Federation are looking them now.

"I didn't think Helen would still be alive." Nelson confessed. "Not without her parents."

"Oh that poor girl." Lindsey sniffed. "Her parents… to loose them when so young."

"Just where is Sonic at this moment?" Michael asked Vector trying to get back to the subject. "If there was ever a time we needed his help, now is it."

"He's on a planet called Chimera." The croc repeated. "Or at least he was when we left him. They were working on a way of getting back to Earth."

Michael smiled at that very welcome news.

"Then there is hope for us yet then."

"We're far from licked." Espio stated, stepping into the tent followed by Rei and Beck. "Sorry we're late. Just had a scout of that ring like pit they're building. It's massive."

"I don't know exactly what it is myself." Nelson admitted, still holding Lindsey. "The guards call it the '**_Divine Gate'_**. They don't tell us what it's for, only that if we don't build it they'll kill us."

"That's where we come in. Only problem is, if we get you guys out of here it won't be all of you." Vector stated now looking serious. "Our ship'll only hold so many."

"How many?" Michael asked leaning forward a little.

"Fifty, maybe sixty but no more than that." Vector replied. The human sighed and leaned back, pressing his lips together in an expression of pained anguish.

"Many of those here are too sick, too tired or too injured to work." He began slowly. "Take them, as many as you can manage. Get them somewhere where they might have a chance at survival.

If they stay here, they'll either die working or under the heal of a Giant.

I can tell right now that something warped is going on here." He carried on. "The Confederates aren't necessarily cruel but here, well it speaks for itself. The guards here lust after blood, especially those with the mark."

"Mark?" Rei repeated. "What mark?" Nelson rummaged in his tattered pants for a folded piece of paper.

"Here. I sketched it once when I saw it on one of their arms, like a tattoo." He handed it to the squirrel who opened it up and stared at the image sketched there. The mark was like an encircling shell with a jagged outline.

Rei suddenly froze at the sight of it, eyes widening and mouth ajar.

"Rei?" Espio asked but trailed off noting the creeping terror slowly infecting his friend's face.

Taken away from reality, Rei found himself in the middle of creation. The big bang spawned the galaxy that was their home but the universe, and the realties bound even that carried on for infinity.

What kept this vast sea of creation in check was balance. Everything had a polar opposite.

Light had darkness.

Life had death.

Creation had Destruction.

Spawned from the nothingness from which call existence sprang, Rei witness the coming of a terrible enemy. An enemy beyond the concepts good and evil. An enemy of literally omnipotent and unending power.

An enemy like no other.

A force beyond a god.

"And I will be the one to release him." A voice, malicious in intent, stated and Rei glance dup to see three glowing orange eyes staring down at him.

The flying squirrel, trembling, sank down to his knees.

"Rei, what's the matter. What's wrong buddy?" Beck asked, rushing to his side. A single name came to his frantic mind

"Iblis…" Rei gasped out, gripping the side of his arms and shaking. He had to be calmed down and laid out to rest. He couldn't, or wouldn't get up. It was as if he was paralysed with fear, his forehead kept in a cold sweat.

Before anyone could do anything more, another person came into the tent. She had lost weight like the others but there was no mistaking Ella, another of the former staff of the Thorndyke estate.

"There's something going on Mr. President." She announced. "The guards are all meeting, looks like something happening at the gate." Michael made a move to get up but Vector stopped him.

"No. I'll go. Just stay here and look after Rei." He started, standing up. "But before I go, there's something I have to know; did you see Cream's mother, Vanilla here? I need to find her."

"Yes… she was here." Nelson began almost in a mutter.

"'Was' here?" Vector caught on quickly turning to face him, looking suddenly distraught. Had he come this far only to find…

"About two days ago, the guards selected about twenty of us to work down in the pit." Lindsey added, gesturing towards the tent entrance. "We haven't heard back from either the guards or the workers since.

As far was we know; they're still working down there."

"Then I've got to go down there too." Vector snarled, smacking a fist into an open palm. Then without waiting for anyone to say anything he darted from the tent.

Ella showed him where the guards were gathering. It was a secluded place away from the slaves, near the far end where the ring around the abyss was complete. They were meeting in the shadow of one of the giant claw like towers that stood around the outer edge and it was clear from the three Giants they placed to keep watch that they didn't want to be disturbed.

Vector snuck up as close as he dared, hiding between two rocks that hadn't been removed from the grounds yet. He was close enough to see but not close enough to be smelt by those monstrosities.

Through the gaps in the small crowd Vector could see an officer; clearly set apart from the others by the bronze armor he was wearing, drawing something with a finger in the dirt.

"What on…" Vector asked himself.

"What's happening?" Espio asked appearing beside him.

"Schhh."

The officer stepped back from the symbol he had drawn in the ground and raised his arms towards the sky.

The front row of soldiers got down onto one knee and hung their heads low. Instantly there was a spark of right light before them and something… some thing Vector quite see manifested. A transparent body, like a ghost hung in the air; a triad of orange eyes staring out at the world.

"What the hell is that?" Espio asked staring at it. The ghost had two long horns on either side of its head, no legs and wide shoulders. Golden chains and the ragged remains of a purple robe were draped over the bizarre body.

"We near completion of the gate, divinity." The Confederate officer stated as he descended down onto one knee. "I estimate we will be finished with a dozen or so days."

"You do well captain." The image told him. "And so, I reward you for your service." The officer looked up as the transparent being raised its hand. "Hold out your left arm to me." The Fesonian complied and the faded hand gripped the wrist.

The Confederate officer cried out in pain, followed by a loud audible crunch as something bit through the skin. Vector had to flinch at the sound.

"You bare my mark, the holy mark of the Titan, wear it proudly as a symbol of both your status and my favour." The officer was released. He staggered back several steps before gazing in wonder at the mark upon his arm.

From here Vector could see it. A shell like shape, with a jagged spiky outline. It was the same mark that had set off another of Rei's visions.

"Continue diligently in your task and you and others may expect more rewards. Rewards hardly symbolic in nature."

"I live to spread your divine word."

"You please me captain." Then the strange ghost like being turned to face the two hidden reptiles. "Of course you could please me more by keeping my holy sights clear of spies." The officer glanced upon, sighting the crocodile and shouting loudly. The other Confederates turned and saw the two reptiles watching them.

"Ah shit." Vector snarled, grabbing Espio and making a run for it.

The ghost vanished, fading away to nothing as alarms began blaring out across the entire construction sight.

A giant lumbered into his way, its massive arms sweeping down to make a grab. With Espio tucked underneath one arm the crocodile dodged the large arms, darting around the startled workers while all the time evading the laser blasts fired by the guards. Unfortunately he wasn't able to dodge another of the mutated giants that seemed to lunge at him from out of nowhere, slamming into him and sending both reptiles flying until they crashed into the side of the pit with a loud cracking sound.

"Vector!" Charmy shouted, flying out to meet him. Both reptiles were unconscious. "Vector, Espio get up!" The young bee started, trying to rock them awake as the massive shadow of a Giant loomed over all three of them.

"Wake up, you filth." Espio was sharply thrown away when something hit him hard in the stomach. Gagging out, his eyes flew open to see the face of the recently branded Fesonian officer.

Beside him, both Vector and Charmy were each being detain by one of the giants. Vector was already awake and snowing every tooth in his mouth.

"You are no slaves." The captain spat at the chameleon. "Who are you? Who sent you?"

"We're the drag queens and we were sent by Santa Claus." Espio muttered in utter defiance. The Fesonian swung his long tail around, smacking it hard across the Chameleon's face with a slap.

"I suppose it really doesn't matter." The captain admired. "Line them up and shoot them."

Standing side by side, the original Chaotix were forced to stand up against the side of a wall as two rows of soldiers organized themselves into a firing squad before them.

Watching from the side lines were dozens of workers and slaves. Nelson and Beck were there in amongst the crowd. He was, understandably, keeping his head down but even from there Vector could see the pained expression on his face.

.A dozen crazy plans of escape flew through the croc's mind in an instant but deep down he knew this was the end, there was no way out.

There was a sharp tugging on his glove. The crocodile looked down to see Charmy looking up at him. The young bee's expression feigned bravery but the fear was more than clear in his eyes.

"Vector… regardless of what I may have said about you…" Espio started but the crocodile cut him off.

"If it's all the same to you Espio, the last thing I wish to do with my time is listen to cliché goodbyes." He gave the chameleon a side glance. "Just thanks for the good times Esp."

"Front row, kneel!" The captain declared and the first few Confederates got down onto one knee. "Present rifles!" The guns were brought up and cocked.

Everything in that moment went deadly quiet as if one might hear a pin drop. The commanding officer held his hand up high and once it was dropped they would fire.

Lindsey and Ella had to look away.

Before the word; 'fire', would be uttered a loud bleeping sound interrupted the captain. The Fesonian officer frowned and reached for the small communicator at his belt.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Sir, orbital drop coming in! Ground to orbit guns useless, estimate impact in ten seconds!" A voice shouted at him over the communicator.

"What in Black Doom's name are you talking about?"

A moment later, the ground shook in the prelude of an almighty thud as some heavy object smashed into the cliff top.

Giant fragments of rock broke off from the surface, hailing down towards the construction site.

The firing squad looked up with shouts of frightened alarm as chaos began to grip the site.

"What the hell?" Espio asked, glaring up at the cliff top as some massive object began moving.

With a loud churning of gears, eight metal legs unfurled themselves from the main body, followed by an armored abdomen and a narrow head with giant pincers.

"A Spider-Mech!" Beck declared in the crowds as the giant shape lumbered into view. The machine had been updated and given a slight re-design and twice and large but it was undoubtedly the same combat-mech, a battle device created by Metal Sonic's army.

Even the robotic hedgehog's emblem, the robotic hand in a tight fist was printed on the top of the head.

It screeched its loud call, before spreading out its legs and scuttling down the side of the cliff face towards the work site. Its metallic jaws pried open and a precise laser lanced forward, cutting through the flesh of the Fesonian giants cleaving their arms and legs from their bodies.

With a loud crash it struck the site ground bringing two of its front legs up jabbed them down crushing the Confederate soldiers that rushed to meet it.

"Fire, FIRE!" The ranking officer declared and the turrets around the outside of the perimeter rotated around to face the mech, all of them opening fire at once. The laser and plasma projectiles simply bounced off an invisible shield around the machine and it kept coming, tearing its way through the defenses and crushing the unsuspecting Confederates underfoot.

"Run for it!" Espio shouted and Charmy and Vector needed no encouragement. Following his lead they made a break for it, running as fast as they could while the firing squad was still distracted.

Another object as falling out of the sky, coming down directly towards the working site. It was smaller than the mech currently kicking the Confederate's ass but it fell like a falling star anyway, a brilliantly bright blazing orange object hurtling down screaming as it went.

With a tremendous boom it impacted the ground just outside the ring, sending dust and fragments of rock flying into the air.

At first it looked like little more than a jagged lump of smoldering metal. But changed however when it unfurled itself, its shape transforming; twisting around until it became humanoid.

Skeletal arms and legs fitted with blue armor slotted into place before a head rose up with long blue spikes with white marks down each one. A pair of blood red eyes glared out of the visor as the cape, bearing the symbol of Metal X rolled out behind the android.

None of the slaves from the Earth did not know Metal Sonic.

Seeing the new intruder, several of the Giants roared before charging straight at the robotic hedgehog.

Metal Sonic let his eyes glow blood red, before he crossed his arms in front of himself. The yellow ring in the middle of his chest sparked with energy before he unleashed a powerful energy blast that tore the first Giant apart, carrying on through him to send dozens of Confederate soldiers flying.

A second Giant tried to charge him, but whipping around with his cape flying out behind him Metal Sonic drove his fingers through the mutant's chest with a sickening crunch. The giant stopped in mid stride, before staggering back as the robotic hedgehog tore its heart out.

It coughed up blood before toppled back and crashing to the ground.

Metal Sonic dropped the now still organ and turned to face the ring. He had spent months now learning everything he could about Nexus, hoping the information might take him to Dark Oak.

Dozens of civilizations knew of that separate dimension. Some called in Tartarus, others called it purgatory and a few called it Hell. All references in the texts he had examined had pointed to this… the fabled Miracle planet. A world dislodged from its rightful place by the ancient war of the gods and only kept in place by a tether, a chain linking it to a more stable planet.

Metal Sonic wasn't surprised to find the Confederates here, or this ring for that matter. His research had almost taught him to expect it.

The Spider mech, the only one he had rebuilt, would keep the Confederates occupied with its new upgrades while he explored the ring. Metal Sonic was not sure weather it would lead him to that treacherous general of his, but he felt it was worth a try.

"Man, am I glad to see you guys." Beck stated, catching up with Vector and the others in the Chaos. "That mech's giving them hell."

"Yeah, trust a giant robot spider falling out of the sky to get somebody's complete attention." Espio replied dryly.

"Perfect distraction guys." Vector added, turning to look at the pit which now was unguarded. "I don't know what's down there but I'm going.

"But Rei's still out of it." Beck told them.

"When you guys stay here and look after him." Vector replied and his voice gained a steely edge to it. "I'm not leaving here without Vanilla."

"I'm coming along too." Espio told him sternly.

"So am I." Charmy added.

"We've not traveled half a galaxy just to be left behind." The chameleon told the croc. "Now come on, let's get your girl back."

Beck simply gave them a thumbs up.

"Go on. I'll tale care of things up here." He told them. Vector grinned wildly.

"Ok, let's go!"

* * *

(In Chris' voice) 

The Galactic Grand Prix draws to an end on Planet Roc. Sonic searches for the mysterious Prometheus for information about the Black Doom and the Iblis Trigger but before he knows it he's facing Jet on the Babylon Rogue's home turf, the scorching deserts below the city of Bablyon; capital of the Falcon Admiralty.

Whoever wins get's six of the seven Chaos Emeralds. But why dose the Hawk want them?

What does his key unlock?

Events of a dramatic history unload with the emergence of the White hedgehog next time as the Sonic Rider's story concludes with Sonic Riders; Final chapter saga, don't miss it!


	37. Episode 19, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 19: Babylon, city of the Battle Birds and the Mysterious Angel Wing

* * *

-

The Falcon Admiralty was a power in space that excelled in space combat and defence. Its fleets were the largest and most dependable in the known galaxy. Because of this, their territory was universally renowned as the most secure and well defended in this spiral arm.

The Combined Federation had tried many times to recruit their aid in campaigns against the Confederation but each and every time they had refused. The Falcon's were notoriously isolationist and did not believe in fighting another's battles.

About a hundred years ago the Confederation had attempted an invasion of their territory and during the preliminary stages of the war, now referred to as the 'war of ruffled feathers', they had taken half a dozen worlds along their border.

The Falcon not only repulsed the invasion with their superior ships but they destroyed the entire invasion force. Not a single ship returned across the border. This utter massacre had sort of put off any incursions or raids on their territory and since the Falcons were not an expansionist people that solidified their borders.

None wished to cross their Battle Bird Armada.

Alliances with them were extremely hard to maintain, or forge at all so the other inter galactic factions had to maintain the status of neutrality.

"What the hell is all this?" Chuck demanded in astonishment as two brief cases full of papers were delivered by the Falcon immigration authorities.

"Stand port entry papers, documents and contracts." The Falcon told him, writing down something on a clip board. "All have to be signed by the designated owner of the vessel before port entry can be admitted to Roc solar space."

"What?!" Chuck gagged looking at the seemingly never ending pile of papers. "There has to be a planet's supply of pressed trees here! That's ridiculous!"

The bird like creature shrugged.

"Sorry pal, I don't make the rules. All I know is if you don't get past the orbit of the second moon without filing all the paperwork."

Grumbling loudly about bureaucrats Chuck got to work signing all five hundred papers.

It took him over five hours to supply his name, names of crew, planet of origin and planet of precious occupancy but eventually clearance was permitted for the Blue Typhoon to proceed towards planet Roc; the staging place for the finals of the Ex Galactic Grand Prix.

The Falcon government, being isolationist, were extremely wary of anyone not of their own kind when they came to their home world. Ordinarily no non-falcon was allowed on Roc. It was only during public events permission was granted for temporary residence.

"Why do I get the feeling they don't like visitors?" Sonic asked; looking out at the tremendous defenses placed in orbit around the planet. The stations here were military installations with gigantic laser turrets and were capable of casting a shield around the entire world; shielding it completely. Currently it was down to allow ships to pass but the potential for it to go up at any time remained and was broadcast extremely by floating ad-ships that also showed commercials about a new type of oil for those difficult to manage feathers.

What was even more impressive was the home defense fleet placed in orbit at the various stations. While none of the Falcon's ships could match a Com-Fed Predator battleship in size or firepower, they definitely had the advantage in sheer numbers.

Sonic, who had taken a crack at a few heavily guarded installations before, placed this defense as one of the best he'd seen yet.

"Ah, ignore that. That's the image General Kukku puts out for tourists." The customs officer replied while Chuck was busy signing away.

"General who?" Sonic asked looking back over his shoulder.

"General Kukku the 15th to be precise. Recently 'elected' resident ruler." The Falcon's tone of voice was extremely sarcastic. "Course you can imagine that election was the biggest farce since that union peddling the cure all skin treatment for reptilians.

And they have scales, not skin!"

"If he's a dictator, why don't you kick him out?" The blue hedgehog asked and the Falcon looked up sharply as if he'd just blasphemed.

"A little word of advice buddy." He started fixing him with a serious expression. "Keep a lid of statements like that while you're here."

"Here… they're all done." Chuck gasped, shoving the pile of papers aside. The end of his pen was broken and he looked as if he'd sprained his wrist.

"Ok, that's all in order. Enjoy your stay and the rest of the tournament." With that, hauling the large collection of signed papers, he was off.

Roc had two moons and a large collection of asteroid debris in order around its poles. Once the Typhoon past through the orbiting stations and entered the atmosphere the crew could observe the planets surface.

Roc was a desert planet with very little water. The only body of body was a single stripe of water running from the North Pole to the equator. From orbit it looked more like a giant river than an ocean.

As they entered the astrosphere they flew right into a dust storm, bellowing giant clouds of sand blanketing the sky and obscuring even the intense sun of this world from view. The auto-pilot Chuck had programmed in however kept it steady on course as they moved towards the capital of this planet, the city of Babylon.

According to the tourist handbook any resemblance to the ruined city of Babylon on Earth was purely circumstantial.

"Man, what a dump." Hare muttered looking at the lay of the land as they descended with a skeptical expression. "I mean, we past a dozen or so beautiful planets on your way here.

Why would this 'Prometheus' choose such a wasteland to live in?"

"According to Gaia Hertia, this planet used to be his home." Sonic stated. "Even after seeing the rest of the universe, I'd still call Mobius my home any day."

"We're going to have to get that name problem sorted out." Hare muttered to Bean. "I mean, since Mobius and Earth are one planet now what do they call it?"

"Mobrth?" The duck suggested.

"Or maybe Earius?" Bark added.

"Let's just call it home and be done with it." Lieutenant Milford interjected; his ear next to the communications console. "Now keep it down, I'm trying to get us landing clearance."

Seeing Sonic was by himself, Amy came up to him; trying to catch his eye. When he noticed he had company the blue hedgehog cast a glance in her direction.

"Something on your mind?" She asked. Sonic put a hand to his chin and tapped his foot.

"Something is going on." He muttered. "But what does it all mean? Nexus… Krish… the Black Doom… Prometheus… Iblis Trigger… none of it makes any sense." He paused and then took the small metallic disc he had been saving out into the open. The one with Tails' insignia engraved into it. "And just how does this fit into it?"

"Well at least this means he's alive." Amy said shrugging it off and letting her arm flop around his shoulders. "Come on Sonic. He's ALIVE. Faced with that, does everything else even matter?"

The blue hedgehog blinked twice, before a wide grin spread across his face from ear to ear.

"Hey, come on people. Let's party." Sera declared, coming in between the two hedgehogs and putting her arms around each of them. Her tail swishing out behind her. "We made it to the finals of the tournament. Win or loose, Sonic gets his name engraved in the history books."

Sonic shuddered.

"Just what I need more fandom."

"Don't give us that. You love the attention." Amy put in a smirk.

"Meow! Hell yeah, You're fawning over it all." Sera added, purring softly as she rubbed her cheek against Sonic's. Her tail wrapping itself around his leg.

Amy leaned in closer as well, trying to prevent the cat-girl from keeping all of Sonic to himself.

"And let's not forget…" The pink hedgehog started with a seductive grin, looking the now intimidated Sonic in the eye. "That unfinished business of ours with the Babylon Rogues."

Leaning over too far, Sonic fell over with both girls on top of him.

Hare, Bean and Bark watched the pile on with a certain amount of intense jealously on their faces.

"This is Babylon space port control tower to Blue Typhoon. Come in, blue Typhoon." A voice sparked with snow over the communications console.

"This Blue Typhoon responding Control Tower, over." Milford replied, picking up the receiver. "Requesting landing clearance at…" He stopped to read the top of the first page of the documents Chuck had been signing. "Dock five."

"We have you on our screens now. Please await further instructions." The voice buzzed for a minute and the Typhoon soured on its course. The dust storm outside began to dissipate a little, the sky growing clearer as their ship began to pass out of the radius of the winds.

"Hey, what's that?" Chuck asked, peering through the thinning veil. As the Typhoon soared past the outer reaches of the storm they beheld Babylon.

A floating city. A huge expanse of land held in the air, covered completely in Arabian style buildings; the tall reaches of the Arabic towers piercing the sky above. There were many floating islands, each one connected to another by a series of giant stone bridges.

Flying up towards it from underneath, they got a perfect view of the many buildings descending through the island mass itself to hand suspended in the air from the bottom.

The airspace above the city was swarming with ships, all different sizes and shapes. There were dozens of battleships in the immediately perimeter of the city, moving in and out of the large landing bays that served as docks for individual ships. Far more common were smaller civilian ships. Those had completely replaced cars here, sliding through the islands and tall buildings and aligning themselves like traffic.

Below the floating city were dozens of Oasis', spotted pieces of paradise in the middle of a barren wasteland here and there. Some over a mile away from the city itself and others directly underneath. Babylon floated in just the right position so that none of these watering holes were obscured by its shadow

"Please, let me tell Knuckles." Sonic started with a short grin. "I want to see the jealous look on his face first hand."

"Attention Blue Typhoon, this is the Control Tower." The same voice began from the communications console. "You have landing permission at dock five. Please acknowledge."

Milford was just sitting there with a dumfounded look on his face at the floating city as their ship moved towards it. .

"Again, Blue Typhoon please acknowledge."

Still Milford did not move.

"Please be advised that loss of radio contact will subject you to military action."

Hearing the word 'military', Milford slammed his hand down console.

"Er.. Blue Typhoon here. Acknowledging landing clearance. Beginning docking sequence now."

"Roger that Blue Typhoon." The control tower replied, sounding amused. "Over and out."

Chuck switched the Typhoon from Auto-pilot to manual and once they were over the dock labeled 'five', he slowed them to a stop below lowering the ship down; firing the downward thrusters to slow their decent and cushion their landing.

It was an undeniable fact that Chris and Helen were spending increasingly long amounts of time together.

That fact Chris had feigned ignorance of, but in reality he was more than aware of it and of what it meant. Rather pathetically, he thought, this was the first time he had ever had feelings like this for anyone. Sonic had turned his life upsides down when he little older than ten and since then he simply hadn't had time for anything like that.

He dare not mention it to his grandfather in fear of receiving the classically rehearsed speech about the bird and the bees.

Even now he was watching her, exercising her legs by going for a walk with Francis as some of them left the Typhoon to venture out onto the dock. It had been nearly half a year now since she had been given that device on her wrist to help her walk.

Alicia hadn't specified when exactly her nervous system would react on its own and she'd be able to walk without it but obviously it wasn't going to be anytime soon. Helen was still having trouble with a quick steps and running was out of the question.

"Dude, don't just stare." A voice behind him started and standing up in alarm Chris nearly tripped over his own feet.

Danny managed a superior smirk at his old friend's reaction.

"I knew it." He muttered as Chris blustered, trying to come up with some excuse as to why he was staring at the girl. "Oh cut that out. You've not only fallen for her you crashed through the floor." He smacked Chris on the back. "Get out there before I throw you out."

Chris went a dark shade of red, keeping eyes on his shoes.

* * *

-

Knuckles was annoyed.

He was annoyed for several reasons.

The first and foremost reason was that he had a bruised lump on the back of his head that he could not explain and it was giving him hell. For a few hours he had gone around holding an ice pack to his head.

The second reason was that despite his best efforts, the Master Emerald was being used as a tool. The Echidna was utterly steadfast in his belief that the Emerald was in some ways a living being, more than a simple supply of energy.

Nobody, himself included, knew from where the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald had come from. Their earliest knowledge of the Emeralds was their presence on the Emerald Chao shrine but their history before that was completely unknown. They were an anomaly. Their contained power defining the known laws of physics and could not be explained by any scientist, no matter how many times Chuck had tried.

It was a mystery that Knuckles had tried to solve many times before, each and every time he had ended no more enlightened than when he started.

On top of that he was frustrated like the rest of them about their predicament. Knuckles had to force himself not to imagine what the Confederation might be doing to Angel Island right at this very moment.

Wandering about alone on the deck of the ship he tried to forget his worries for a while at least and enjoy the experience of something new. Unfortunately he hadn't the wanderers spirit like Sonic and found that the experienced labored as if he was forcing himself to enjoy it.

The three Emeralds they had been able to track down safely placed inside the ship's vault and the Master Emerald was protected by the Blue Typhoon's energy core. With all items of importance adequately protected Knuckles found himself lacking purpose.

Sighing out load, he turned to head after the others who had gone down to the Oasis' below on the desert surface.

"Hello."

"Arggh!"

The Echidna doubled back as Hyper seemed to appear out of nowhere, smiling at him sadistically and with a disturbing passion in her eyes. Before he could stop her, the half-reptilian swung in close to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her long snake like tail twisting around his waist.

"You know, Red is my favourite color." She whispered to him. "Sure you can't flex those muscles for me just once?"

"Knuckles!" A voice declared with fury underlining the tone. The Echidna looked back with a furlong expression back towards the entrance where Rouge was standing. The she-bat's fur was standing on end and her fists were clenched at either side and she was shaking with growing anger.

The sight of her bared fangs sent a cold shiver down Knuckles' spine and he went a pale shade of white.

"Get your hands off my Echidna." She scowled. Hyper just grinned at her and tightened her grip on Knuckles.

"I don't see your name on him." She stated coyly, placing her cheek right against his. There was a certain line one did not cross with Rouge. And that line was the coveting of items she considered to be her property.

Her wings spread out either side as she launched herself through the air at Hyper with hands extended like claws.

"Agh, nothing." Sonic complained as he marched onto the bridge with an intensely annoyed expression. The only other people there besides himself were Chuck and Hare. Most of the others were taking shore leave to view the incredible floating city. Even Knuckles was gone. "Nobody was willing to talk around here. It's as if the entire city is keeping its mouth shut."

"That's the problem with a police-state." Chuck muttered. "Makes people too afraid to open their doors, never mind answer questions."

"Did you notice the camera's everywhere?" Hare asked. "No wonder that guy told us not to ask too many questions down here." General Kukku, the Falcon's dictator maintained an iron grip on their home world. Ships from their Battle Bird fleet were constantly watching over the floating Babylon and armed patrols stood guard over the larger public places.

Public address beaming out across the cities airwaves were pure propaganda, describing with sickly persistence how the high military presence kept the population safe against the states' outside enemies.

"I don't want to spend too much of my time here but its taking longer to find this guy than I thought." He looked over in Chuck's direction. "Any luck with you?"

Prof. Thorndyke shook his head with a sigh.

"Sorry. According to Falcon records nobody by the name of 'Prometheus' has ever lived in this city."

"Well that's hardly surprising." Hare put in as he flicked an overhanging ear out of his face and the two of them looked his way. "Common sense fella's. The very name **_Prometheus_** is a bit of a giveaway isn't it? If this Gaia Hertia is to be believed, this guy is thousands of years old. There's got to be a way to ensure privacy with that kind of life style. Especially on a planet with a near omnipresent government."

"You mean he's using an alias?" Chuck asked. Hare rolled his thoughts thoughtfully.

"Something like that yeah."

Sonic growled.

"Great. That could be anything." He smacked his fist down in annoyance. "We're right back to square one." They weren't making fast enough progress and it was annoying him to no end.

Huffing the hedgehog made his way towards the exit. Passing by a window he paused to gaze out along the docks.

Several positions away was a Falcon Admiralty class ship Sonic recognized. The coloring and markings were a big give away. It was the ship of the Babylon Rogues. The sight put him so much on edge he could tip off that edge at any moment.

"And just where are you going?" Chuck asked.

"Just to blow off some steam." The hedgehog replied, grabbing his Rengoku and heading out the door.

Everything would have been so much easier if Gaia had known where these supposed important bloodlines were and why they were so special. If anything, Sonic's meeting with the ancient had left him more confused than when he started.

Amy and Knuckles had headed down to one of the Oasis' down on the desert surface below and around Babylon. That seemed like a good a place as any to vent some of his pent up annoyance.

* * *

-

It was the scent of desert winds intermixed with the fresh smell of the oasis that told Jet he was home. Giving a big sigh of relief he leaned back and lay in the long grass near the water hole, folding his arms behind his head he simply laid there with his eyes slowly closing.

How long had it been since he'd been back here? Five years… seven maybe?

Ever since his father had died he had sworn never to return until he uncovered the secret of the key his father nearly destroyed their guild to use. Finally… he had at the secret and now his own ego would admit him the right to relax in his childhood environment.

This very oasis he had spent whole days of his early youth in, dogging through the massive trees perfecting his skill; bathing in the waters and hiding from his friends in the long grass.

One of which was pacing up and down nearby, her arms crossed in front of her with a nervous expression on her face.

"Oh… oh boy, oh boy, oh boy." Wave was muttering to herself, kicking a stone out her way in frustration. The projectile past close to the tip of Jet's beak nearly hitting it before spinning away into the long grass. The Hawk opened one eye and regarded her for a moment before he rolled over to try and ignore her.

"What's taking Storm so long?" She asked out load, stopping her pacing and adopting an angry face.

"Wave, just sit down and relax." Jet told her, looking up with a hint of mild annoyance in his voice.

Storm hadn't reported back in days. True Jet had told him not to come back until he had something worth reporting as a means of redeeming himself but he hadn't meant to completely cut himself off. Regular communication was standard stuff.

"How can anyone be so relaxed at a time like this?" She asked him.

"Storm can handle himself. You know that so just let the big idiot get on with his assignment. He'll contact us when he's ready." The hawk rolled over again and tried to get back to his nap.

"And I still can't believe you broke off the arrangement with Eggman." Wave carried on now irritated at being ignored.

"He was a liar who would have betrayed us given half the chance." He muttered with his eyes closed, preceding a long yawn. "Besides, we don't need him anymore. I've got the knowledge I need to activate the key and that's all we needed from both him and the Fesonian resistance."

Wave stamped her foot to regain his attention before he drifted off.

"You're taking too many risks! You're a leader, Jet. And leaders have responsibilities." Jet rolled over until his back was to her. "Stuff like plans for heists you understand but when it comes to taking personal interest in the well being of…"

Jet tuned her out. He sat there completely ignoring her as she whittled on about something or other.

She didn't understand that he knew what he was doing. Everything was in place and he wasn't going to jeopardize it now for something as silly as someone else's well being.

His father had left this task to him… him and him alone.

A soft purring sound caught his attention, followed by the sudden rush of a strong wind. Glancing up he watched a blue blur shoot through the canopy of leaves on the far side of the Oasis. Momentary gaps in the leaves showed a sleek blue shape riding atop a board of some kind.

Recognizing it instantly he grinned.

"Ah… time for a little fun." The hawk muttered to himself, glancing back at Wave who was still in the middle of some morale speech. While she was absorbed in it telling, Jet picked himself up and quietly tiptoed away.

By the time Wave finally noticed her audience was no longer sitting down before her, she looked up to see him leaping up using his wings to travel higher until he reached a branch of a tree. Before she could do anything Jet vanished into the leaves, disappearing almost completely.

"Hey, Jet! You get back here, right now!" She called after him but of course he didn't. She stood there for several moments, fuming silently with fists clenched at both sides. Finally, she slumped her shoulders with a defeated look on her face. "Oh why do I even bother?"


	38. Episode 19, part 2

Sonic had always possessed tremendous agility. Being able to twist and turn his body at lightening speed was what had made him famous. It had taken a little bit of practise but by now he could transfer those skills into the art of Extreme Gear surfing.

Pulling the board close to himself in mid air, he could use his centre of gravity to perform tremendous acrobatic twirls and spinning all while doing continuous back flips.

He always had an audience. Amy and Sera were down there on the Oasis surface watching him and Knuckles had just joined them. Showing off was an instinct hardwired in Sonic's very self so he couldn't resist doing some extra special stunts to both impress the ladies and to make on of his rivals jealous.

The Echidna just watched his aerial antics with a disapproving look on his face.

"I'd have thought he'd be above showing off by now." He commented.

"Not a chance of that happening any time soon." Amy sighed as she leaned back in the long grass. Sera was nearby watching Sonic flip back and forth, her tail swaying behind her lazily. "Don't usually see you outside the Energy chamber." The pink hedgehog added.

"Yeah… well, I er… I needed to get some fresh air." Knuckles said, preferring not to speak about the confrontation between Hyper and Rouge. As far as he knew, it was still going on. It was only by luck he had managed to tip toe his way out of that cat-fight.

"The race finals for the Ex Galactic Grand Prix tournament will commence in three hours." A female sounding voice beamed out from the city of Babylon in the sky above. "Will the finalists please convene at the old Babylonian Stadium prior to that time."

Sonic landed with a soft thud nearby, successful catching his gear under one arm and righting himself up with a wide proud smile.

"Nice moves." Knuckles admitted folding his arms.

Sonic straightened himself up and let out a pensive sigh. That had done him the world of good. Now he felt like his old self again.

Prometheus was here somewhere and Sonic would get to the bottom of this by finding him.

It was just taking him a little longer than he thought it would.

Little at the moment made sense. Solaris, Iblis Trigger, Iblis, Black Doom... hopefully Prometheus could shed some light on it.

"Not very impressive for someone of your reputation." Sonic's ear pricked at the sound of that voice and staring up, he caught sight of another audience.

Watching them from a tree branches nearby was Jet. The Babylon Rogue had a wide smirk on his face with his arms folded in his lap.

"You…" Sonic muttered.

"You know, I've been watching you throughout this competition." The hawk admitted. "And I got information from that fool Eggman about your past racing career.

Not bad blue boy I'll admit. You even managed to beat my Rogues. But compared to me, you're a chump amateur."

"Did he just call me 'chump'?" Sonic breathed with a mixed expression of awe and outright anger slowly spreading on his face.

"You see, as long as you're a ground based mammal you're going to be going nowhere." The rogue added with a sadistic expression on his face as he pulled down his orange tinted goggles over his eyes.

"But if you want real speed you have to become one with the wind. Without wings you might as well kiss the ground and go home." Launching up into the air, he seemed to almost vanish disappearing into the green of the leafy canopy, leaving a long series of irritating laughs in his wake. The taunting continued in echoes for a moment before disappearing.

"Who does he think he is?" Knuckles asked, barring his teeth.

"Well he's a hot favourite to win the tournament for one thing." A voice added in. Looking back they saw a human like being approach them through the long grass.

He looked human by the quills on the side of his neck and sharp teeth defiantly weren't part of the human anatomy.

"Piranha?" Sonic asked looking a little surprised. "Just what are you doing here?" The man adopted a stunned expression as if that question need not be asked placing his hands on his hips.

"You honestly think I'm going to miss out on an adventure like this?" He asked in reply with wide eyes. "You may not even know it, but you guys, you especially Sonic, are at the centre of intrigue the likes of which I've never seen.

And I've a mole in the Federation government."

"Media gibber aside, what's this all about?" Sonic asked him finally loosing patience.

"I was concerned about you when the Order of Thunder publicly declared you excommunicated so I came to see how you were doing." The man replied.

"They what?" Knuckles began. Piranha tapped a button on his wrist watch and a holographic projection of a news broadcast. Sonic managed a frown at the sight of one of the Order's head priests, the Reptilian Balthazar, standing in front of some reporters making an address.

"The faithful of Zeus do not take heresy lightly.

The crew of the ship known as the Blue Typhoon have profaned against the memory of our patron, professing the lies of Cronos as truths.

These lairs threaten the stability of our faith and are a danger to any society. I call upon any law abiding faithful to join me in pursuing these dangerous outlaws and bringing them to lawful and religious justice."

"You're lucky you're in Falcon territory." Piranha muttered, pressing the button again and the image disappeared. "The birds don't give a flying heck about religion so they won't touch you."

"Great… Meow, first time I get away from Federal bodyguards and I'm in a collective bunch of targets for religious nut jobs." The cat-girl hugged her knees closer to herself. "Daddy will never let me live this down."

"It's mostly posturing." Piranha told her. "They won't try anything in public… they're a popular faith but not so much that they can get away with attacks in broad daylight.

At least… not after that Solaris thing… watchdogs are all over them."

"Solaris?" Sonic repeated. He'd heard that before. Arch, one of the high priests alongside Balthazar had mentioned it in passing.

"It's a rumour going around in the Media that the Order of Thunder, alongside Merchant kingdom scientific corporations, Combined Federation government and with some financial assistance from the Fenrir royal family attempted to recreate and utilise some of the advanced technology left behind by the Titan civilisation.

It was entitled; Solaris Project, and kept top secret.

Urban folklore also states that they even found one of those bloodlines Gaia told you about… but I don't image they'll be willing to share too much information with us about it.

What the purpose of this project was and how they went about doing it is a mystery, one journalist's have been trying to solve for quite some time. This is beyond top secret stuff. Neither the Kingdom nor the Federation is letting any details out."

"Gunman on grassy knoll huh?" Sonic asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Piranha started looking confused.

"Never mind, what you got for us?" Amy cut in. Piranha coughed and reached into his jacket, pulling out a large leather skin book with some odd writing etched into the cover.

"Being from a backward little world like this 'Earth' of yours, you're not aware of the legends of Iblis and the demons of Erebus." He began, flipping the book open

"Will you get to the point?" The pink hedgehog asked with an irritated look on her face hardly found of the notion of their home being referred to as a backwards little world. Piranha coughed nervously and started again.

"According to the doctrine of the Order of Thunder; the universe and all universe's beyond it are kept in check by a system of balances.

I'm sure you've heard somebody tell you that every reaction had an equal and opposite reaction?"

"Chuck may have mentioned it and I may not have been listening." Sonic muttered putting on an odd face.

"Well…" Piranha carried on anyway. "Since there is so much life and creation in the realities, an equal amount of death and destruction had to exist to counteract it.

This is how Iblis came into being. Little is known about him accept that is a malevolent engine of destruction that had been unleashed once before, devouring an entire solar system before he was sealed again by Zeus."

"Devoured?" Knuckles repeated looking a little confused.

"Iblis is depicted in folklore as a planet eater." Piranha elaborated. "It is said his hands can crush moons and his mouth swallow a world.

Anyway, he was tricked into entering the realm of the dead and had dwelt there until released by the Titan Cronos."

Sonic blinked. Cronos? Now they were tying in to the story Gaia Hertia told him.

"When released, Iblis destroyed the planet of the ancients and ate its solar system before Zeus finally managed to send him back. It was this final act that actually killed Zeus and set him up as the Order's martyred patron saint."

"Void mentioned Titans before didn't he?" Amy asked, suddenly remembering it.

Knuckles nodded

"Yeah, when we were helping out Blaze with her home world, Fellena." He said. Sonic cast his mind back to that time when they had travelled to another dimensional realm to help the felines against a mysterious force that controlled a ravenous plague called the Dragon Blood. Void had indeed said he suspected something called 'Titans' to be behind it. Did he mean **_these _**Titans?

Was Blaze's 'Dark-One' the Titan Cronos? Was it the Black Doom?

"So, what you know about these Titan's anyway?" The blue hedgehog asked.

"Not much apart from legend and myth." Piranha confessed. "Most agree the title refers to a civilisation that lived in this galaxy long before our own. In fact, the Sand Ruins a little north of Babylon are believed to belong to them.

After going through the old myths, one underlining thing kept popping up; some referenced to both Iblis and Zeus."

"And what was that?"

"Angel Wing."

Sonic put on one of his classic confused expressions.

"Don't ask me. I haven't the faintest clue what it is either." The sharp toothed man admitted shrugging his shoulders. "The only detailed reference I could find to it went like…" He paused to flip through his book to a passage he had underlined.

"And the sky broke open through the morning glory and the Angel Wing breeched the gap between worlds, carving the air like a knife and the grand devourer reached back to create the door."

"Meow. That's not much to go on." Sera muttered looking furlong.

"I'll crack it given enough time." Piranha stated confidently.

"We can figure all this out later." Sonic said calmly, cupping his Rengoku under one arm and managing a sly grin. "Right now I have a score to settle with Jet."

"Be careful Sonic. You'll be facing Jet on his home turf." Piranha reminded him. The blue hedgehog managed a large grin.

"Don't I know it?"

* * *

-

Alone with his thoughts, Shadow had plenty of time to think and to ponder. Trying to make sense of all of the information going around inside his head he wandered alone across the grassy fields of Fenrir. Sonic and the others had already left but quite frankly that did not interest him at all.

Trudging his way up towards the hills to the east of Soleanna, the dark hedgehog could not help but to think on what Krish had told him. The brand on his arm... What hold had it given Black Doom over him?

What part did the prophecy of the Trigger of devils play into this?

Shadow was well aware of this story… both Maria and the Professor had mentioned it. On Earth, the story was that prophecy of theorized event, like a singularity, talked about in both ancient myth and in recent scientific discussion.

No one knew precisely what it meant or what would happen on that event, only it would be triggered by a catalyst.

Was he that catalyst, as Black Doom claimed, or was it a lie to secure his aid? And what of Black Doom's promise? Could he really fulfil it like those ancient murals depicted he could… or had that all been a lie, propaganda crafted in stone?

Or perhaps he had allowed Black Doom to deceive him, wanting to belief it so badly that he blinded himself.

Despite his desire, his deep wish to see Maria again... Shadow could not help but have doubts.

He placed a hand to his head and sighed. Shadow was certain the key to all this lay in his past... in the memories that were missing. The ones Gerald had removed.

Standing atop the hill in a small grove of tears, Shadow paused and stared up at the cloudless blue sky.

"Just what does all this mean?" He asked out load but the sky didn't answer.

The only indication he had to something happening was when the world around him started to darken as if night was coming in a matter of seconds. Glaring around in alarm, Shadow watched in stunned silence as everything completely faded to be replaced by the endless sea of stars that was space. The ground disappeared from under him and Shadow floated there.

Instinctively he took in a deep breath fearing the air would be sucked out of his lungs. Surpassingly the air came without any difficulty and Shadow found that he could breath without problem.

Even more surpassingly, just below him as if it had always been there was the planet Earth. It was just as he had observed it from the ARK, a blue sphere with a white encircling atmosphere.

"Shadow… you seem troubled."

Turning, Shadow confronted the visage of Black Doom. He immediately noted that here, Black Doom did not appear as a transparent projection but rather as a solid object without distortion. "So troubled in fact that you did not retrieve those two Chaos Emeralds as ordered. And now they lie in Sonic's hands. This is the second time you have failed me."

"Alright, enough." Shadow nearly spat. "Just where have you brought m?." Some resembling an ironic smile seemed to twitch in the etched lines down his front of his face.

"Perhaps you should ask…when?"

At the black and red hedgehog's puzzled expression, the demonic being gestured off to his right along the planet's orbit.

"Behold." Shadow turned and stared. Then his mouth went dry, and his eyes dilated.

Flashes of laser fire shot through space as dozens of shuttles and a few battleships moved in towards an orbiting giant station. The defences of the station were putting up a good fight but they were being worn down bit by bit by the relentless assault. The shuttles, fighters and battleships were attacking with almost fanatical devotion, the bombardment never ceasing not even for a moment.

This was a moment that Shadow was more than familiar with. The station under attack was the ARK.

This was the day the military, manipulated by the Foundation Organisation, invaded the Colony.

One of the battleships burst through the defence grid and rammed itself into the Colony's docking bays. Once an airtight seal had been secured, dozens of soldiers began racing out into the colony. Any lab personnel were arrested on the spot and civilians and soldiers was killed without mercy.

"This… this has already happened." Shadow stuttered, trying to place some logic into what he was seeing but events carried on just as he remembered.

"Yes… this **_has_** already happened." Black Doom whispered. "What you see before you are memories. Your memories. Memories of events that shaped your entire existence.

Memories you seem to have forgotten…"

Shadow wasn't listening. His attention was instantly drawn to the space side corridor that ran along the ARK's under sector. The wall facing open space was clear and inside he could see two people running hand in hand from soldiers that were chasing them.

"No…" He started. "Anything but this…"

Despite his protested, the two figures kept running. One of them a human girl with blonde hair and the other a mobian hedgehog.

Suddenly, they ran into a dead end as a lockdown door had slammed down blocking the corridor. Unable to run they were cornered by the soldiers.

Shadow wanted to cover his eyes, not to look but his arms were frozen at his side and he was unable to move them an inch.

The soldiers raised their rifles and aimed them right at the hedgehog. Just as they fired, the girl hurled herself down trying to push the hedgehog out of the way. In the action one of the bullets struck her in the chest.

The sound of that one shot seemed to echo louder than all the others.

"Reminders were necessary Shadow." Black Doom carried on and the illusion around them was disbanded and the black hedgehog was left crouching on the ground of that same hill, holding back tears. "Despite all this incentive you have wavered from your task."

"Alright Black Doom, cut the crap!" Shadow snapped cutting him off standing back up, snapping around to face him with the glistening sparks of salt water trailing from his eyes. "Tell me everything! About Nexus and the demons that lurk within."

"Demons?" Black Doom repeated, his third eye widening a little. "How little you understand. Demon is simply a word used by the lesser to describe an entity with power that surpasses their own.

If they perceive that being as good they call it an angel, and if bad, a demon.

In truth there is very little difference between angels and demons. They are of the same species." He spread his arms out wide. "I and my kind, locked away inside this dimensional prison, are the last of an ancient culture that was nearly destroyed eons ago."

"I want answers right now!"

"Answers to questions spawned by the ranting's of traitors and weaklings?" Black Doom asked. "Do not presume me blind. I know full well about your conversations with both Miles Prower and Krish Kra Pal."

Shadow shut his mouth.

"I know you better than you know yourself. You wish to know more about Nexus and the nature of those imprisoned within."

The black hedgehog jabbed a finger forward.

"Then Nexus **_IS_** the prison you told me about?" The demonic like being went silent for a moment, all three eyes regarding Shadow with a new curiosity as if he was pondering why his agent was suddenly so defiant.

"What difference does it make whether it is?" He asked finally. "Nexus is a dead realm, a place of unending shades and utter darkness. I and my kind wish to escape this purgatory. Is that so wrong?"

"That was Krish's goal." Shadow reminded him. "And I can tell you for nothing that was wrong enough."

"Krish was an emotionally retarded fool." Black Doom scoffed. "When his physical body was dissolved by the Black Arms and his mind cast into Nexus, he faced the prospect of gradually going insane, as a few of my kind have.

He was little more than a spirit and in that dead place, he would have remained for eternity.

I, in my eternal mercy, granted him a reprieve from that fate. I taught him our history and our culture, trained him in how to use his unstable powers.

And in return he betrayed us, effected his own return while leaving us to rot. Many of my fellows thank you and Sonic for destroying the traitor." Something of a glimmer of humour seemed to spark in the three eyes. "You have been mislead Shadow, but I'm prepared to forgive you. All is not lost just yet. There is still chance for you to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds and crack open our prison with them."

"You need more than the Chaos Emeralds for that." The black hedgehog whispered almost under his breath.

"True… I do, but the Chaos Emeralds are your primary concern for the moment. I have other agents fulfilling the remaining conditions needed for escape. That should be an irrelevance to you."

"You still should have told me!" Shadow snapped, oblivious to the fact that he was being watched. Observing both himself and the demon from a distance was Storm, watching through a pair of binoculars standard Combine Federation military issue. The enhanced sound was also allowing him to listen in on the conversation as well.

"I can see you have been shaken Shadow so I am prepared to make you a deal. One you may find quite appealing." Black Doom carried on after a pregnant silence. "Retrieve both the Chaos Emeralds and another item for me and I shall reward you prematurely."

Shadow froze.

"Fulfil the first part of the Ritual of Prosperity by bringing me these items and I will restore Maria to you. The two of you will then be my right hand in this universe and will open the gate for me."

"What's the catch?" The hedgehog asked.

"I may be a caring soul, but I am not foolish." Black Doom told him, narrowing the two smaller eyes. "I will have 'insurance'. A hold on your precious adopted sister and if you betray me, she will pay the price."

Shadow held his breath. Conflicting emotions were boiling to a pitch inside him.

Still… he reasoned that he had already signed a contract and set himself on this path. Despite the doubts, he had to go through with it. Now it was do or die.

"I agree." He eventually said. "What else do you need?"

"Eons ago, a colossal behemoth graced the galaxy with its presence, a vessel that transcended the limitations of three-dimensional space." The demon stated. "It is the key and the Emeralds are the lock. Bring the two of them together and the gate will be primed to open.

Bring me the Angel Wing."


	39. Episode 20, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 20: Sand Ruins

* * *

The Floating City of Babylon had been made by the Falcons when they migrated to Roc thousands of years ago. When they arrived they discovered ruins in the sand dunes all over the planet. Despite efforts made by historians, both internal and external, the ruins defied explanation and remained a mystery. Whatever civilization existed on Roc before had long since gone and after a while the Falcon's were prepared to leave it that way.

A few of the more intact ruins they salvaged, making them into temporary housing for the less fortunate and for large public events.

An old stadium, only partly restored, was to be the centre stage for the final race of Ex Galactic Grand Prix.

Wave was still on edge. She'd been on edge ever since they'd arrived back on Roc. She had good reason for this. The Babylon Rogues were an outgrowth of the Thieves Guild, a criminal organization that had been hunted to almost extinction by General Kukku.

The fear dogged her mind that his security forces, known for their brutality, might come crashing down on them. And they would if they even suspected who they really where.

"Just keep a cool head on and everything will be fine." Jet assured her, opening an eye and regarding her callously as he lay on top of a half fallen sandstone pillar. They were preparing to meet their wayward member in a small collection of ruins just to the west of the Stadium. The large coliseum could exactly be seen from where they were. "And for Poola's sake stop pacing, you're making a ditch in the sand."

"Maybe you enjoy the idea of a penal colony Jet, but I don't." She snapped at him. "If they suspect who we are, or who your father was then our goose is cooked."

"You know I don't like that phrase." Jet told her sternly. "Did you bring the Emeralds?"

Wave just made a face before she pulled a locked metal case out from behind a short stumpy rock. She just patted it affirmatively.

"I still think you're being too reckless." She commented. "You've severed all our connections and risking everything on this one race. What if you loose?" All she cold in reply was a very sharp and piercing glare, challenging her to go on further and risk their wrath. "Never mind…" She finished turning away.

Staring out into the desert she caught sight of something, a glint of light from a reflective surface. It was moving, dancing across the scorching sand before it began to move towards them.

Jet looked out from underneath an overhang of feathers and managed a smile.

"Boss! Boss!" Storm cried out at them, waving his arms to get their attention as he soured nearer. The albatross lost his balance, his Extreme Gear flying out from underneath him. Storm did a flip in the air before landing in the sand face down.

"Hope you got something for us." Jet commented, sliding down from the ruins and onto his feet. Storm pushed himself out of the sand and spat a few grains out of his beak.

"I followed that Shadow guy like you told me." The albatross told him, reaching into his feathers and taking out the binoculars he had used. "He's got some really interesting playmates."

"Gimme." Wave said, butting in and taking the device from his hands. Pressing a button on the side she ejected the memory ship. Taking the small pendant around her neck, she flipped the chip inside a small almost invisible hole. There was a succession of loud clicks and the micro-sized computer within began to work through the data. A moment later a projection began to emerge.

"I can see you have been shaken Shadow so I am prepared to make you a deal. One you may find quite appealing." The voice that chilled them all stated as the three birds gazed upon the recorded conversation. "Retrieve both the Chaos Emeralds and another item for me and I shall reward you prematurely."

Shadow, the black and red hedgehog was standing there in front of this strange creature with three eyes with a frustrated look on his face.

"Fulfil the first part of the Ritual of Prosperity by bringing me these items and I will restore Maria to you. The two of you will then be my right hand in this universe and will open the gate for me."

"What's the catch?" The hedgehog asked.

"I may be a caring soul, but I am not foolish." The demon told him, narrowing the two small eyes. "I will have 'insurance'. A hold on your precious adopted sister and if you betray me, she will pay the price."

The black hedgehog looked extremely indecisive.

"I agree." He eventually said after a long silence. "What else do you need?"

"Eons ago, a colossal behemoth graced the galaxy with its presence, a vessel that transcended the limitations of three-dimensional space." The demon stated. "It is the key and the Emeralds are the lock. Bring the two of them together and the gate will be primed to open.

Bring me the Angel Wing."

"Angel Wing?" Jet repeated angrily as the transmission cut out. "Why is it always the Angel Wing?"

"Jet… what is there isn't any treasure in the garden?" Storm started looking a little melancholy.

"Or worse." Wave added. "That this 'Angel-Wing' is the treasure?"

The hawk looked like he was about to argue but stayed silent instead, looking down thoughtfully at the ground.

"That can't be." He muttered. "My father wouldn't have spent his life going after something that wasn't worth the effort."

"Think about it Jet." Wave started at him, trying to get through the Hawk's stubbornness. "Eggman want's the key to open the garden, and we all know he isn't interested in treasure.

Doesn't it stand to reason that if that's so then what's in there might be something other than silver or gold?"

That did not sit well with Jet at all. Loathe as he was to admit it, Wave did have a very good point. If Eggman and Shadow demonic looking friend were interested in the Babylon Garden then there was a good chance that what lay inside wasn't piles of gold like the Hawk had envisioned.

"Of course, it being a weapon of some kind might actually be to our advantage." Wave suddenly added. Both Storm and Jet turned to give her a quizzical look. "Think about it… gold's nice and all but a weapon or piece of advanced technology might actually be even more valuable.

We can auction it off to the highest bidder if we get to it first."

"The Finals for the Ex Galactic Grand Prix are about to start." A voice but it, booming out across the desert from the stadium. "Will the finals please convene at the starting line."

Without a word Jet scooped up his Extreme Gear and held it under one arm.

"Alright… its time to put that blue boy down once and for all." He stated turning toward the other two Rogues. "Let's finish this."

* * *

--

Doctor Eggman was absent. Sonic noticed this immediately as he walked out onto the stadium floor with his Extreme Gear. There was no sign of the man.

Another tournament announcer had taken over the position and the hedgehog was surprised to see Piranha standing there with the mike in hand.

"This is it ladies and gentlemen." The fish like human began to the massing crowd of Falcons and a few other species in the crowd, affecting his DJ voice. "The weak have been weeded away to leave you with the two finest racers this galaxy has to offer."

Sonic noted with some disaffection that crowds in the stadium seats were mostly Falcon's and almost all of them had banners held aloft that read 'Go Jet' or 'Babylon Rogues Rule!!'

What small amount of supporters Sonic did have had been crowded together near the starting line. They consisted of nearly the entire crew of the Blue Typhoon, even those they had saved from the Giant Wing Ruins and the Confederation transport. Even amongst all that Sonic had only a measly tenth of the Stadium on his side.

"There was a time when I would be racing in this sort of competition." Sam Speed muttered sadly as the blue hedgehog.

"Just enjoy your retirement and leave the races to the young." Sonic told him slyly.

"Retirement?" Sam repeated suddenly adopting a grin. "Not on your life hedgehog. I'm not hanging up my racing goggles until I've won back my title."

"You're gonna be waiting a long time." Sonic laughed before carrying on to the starting line.

"Nice to see he's in good spirits." Rouge said from the row behind. "Even though he is betting everything on this one race." The Red echidna sitting beside her did not answer. He simply sat there looking uneasy, a deep frown on his face and anxiousness in his eyes.

"What's eating you?" Rouge asked.

"Something… something feels wrong." He muttered with his arms folded in front of himself.

"Everything feels fine to me." The she-bat murmured, leaning against him with a wide grin.

"I mean it Rouge, I can't tell what but something is about to happen." The Echidna carried on. "It feels like some kind of dread… like waiting for the blade of a guillotine to fall." He looked up towards the sky. "I've gotten this feeling before… whenever some important, but terrible event took place."

"Like what?"

"Like the revival of Krish and the invasion by the Confederates… whenever something like that happens, I get this tingly feeling."

Rouge grinned at him.

"Echidna's intuition?"

"Something like that. I might come from absorbing loose energies from the Master Emerald, I don't know…" If it were possible he started to look even more on edge. "But it's been right ever time so far and I've little reason to doubt it now." He refused to say anymore and Rouge leaned away from him.

"Is Mr. Knuckles ok?" Cream asked, looking around her towards the Echidna's sour expression.

"Ah yeah, he's fine… he just had the collywobbles." The she-bat giggled and Knuckles turned a darker shade of red.

"Tell me truthfully, what are Sonic's chances here?" Hare asked, leaning across Chuck to Talos who was sitting two seats along with his half breed sister, Hyper, to his left.

"Well to be honest, they're pretty evenly matched in skill." The Reptilian ventured. "But in racing style they differ. Jet is pretty much the champion when it comes to Extreme Gear stunts, and Sonic has far greater agility." He put the tip of his chin to his chin as if he where thinking. "I guess It'll come down to how well they can play to each others strengths and weakness'."

"I'd say Sonic's racing Jet on home turf, both on the course and on the board." Hyper added. "So the Hawk has the advantage here."

As Sonic neared the starting line, a long flight of stone steps leading up to a precipice, he turned to look up into the crowd.

Sitting in the private box was the ruler of both Roc and the whole Falcon Admiralty. General Kukku the 15th, a dictator whose grandfather seized power from an old parliamentary government establishing a police state over the Falcon's. Sonic had read up on the local history of this planet before he got here.

True it was a police state and true it had a total and utter lack of civil rights, but on the plus side it had destroyed any trace of crime within Falcon territory and kept them unified. That said, Sonic still did not approve of the method and he made it clear in the glare he sent the General.

Sonic believed the end never justified the means.

General Kukku was a Falcon that reminded him of Alexander, the Falcon captain who scarified himself to save them from a Confederation Ymir, quite a bit. He had the same basic height and blue feathers. But the eyes were different. The General's eyes were a very dark violet that gave him a sort of sinister visage.

He caught the look Sonic was giving him and interpreted it correctly, sending a silent reply back.

A mute conversation passed between the two of them.

Sonic was impressing how much he disapproved of this totalitarianism.

The General was simply replying that he did not care what Sonic thought.

Frowning, Sonic turned away and carried on.

"Something the matter sir?" One of the General's attendants asked, noting the disapproving look on the Falcon's face.

"No nothing." Kukku replied reaching for some freshly picked grapes. "Just clearing something up, that's all."

Sonic carried on. Waiting for him by the bottom of the stairs on one side was Amy. She was carrying a silver metal case in one arm and her hammer in the other. The case was something he had asked her to bring. The hammer was for reassurance.

Reassurance that if he lost, she was going to use it on him.

Just beyond her on the far side of the stairs were the Babylon Rogues. Storm along with Jet was watching his every move while Wave was busy examining the tip of her shoe.

"Got your game on?" Amy asked as he neared. Sonic smiled and nodded once. Amy managed a grin and pressed her fist playfully against his cheek.

"Go get 'em, blue boy." Without another word she handed him the silver container and let him walk right past her towards his opponent.

Jet watched him approach with an expressionless face, his wings folded in front of himself.

Sonic stopped before him and the two of them stood staring at each other in silence.

"Did you bring them?" Jet asked. Sonic nodded and held the silver case out in front of himself. He clicked the lock open and showed the hawk the Emeralds inside.

Jet managed something of a wry smile before he brought his own case forward and opened it, showing the hedgehog the three emeralds he had gathered. Six of the seven emeralds brought together glowed intently, sensing their proximity to each other.

"One leaves with all." Sonic stated.

"The other leaves with nothing." Jet continued.

Together they made their way up the stairs leaving Amy and the two rogues behind.

"The rules are the same." Piranha reminded them all as they reached the top. The finishing line was in the middle of the stadium, but the starting point was near. A ramp jutted out from the platform, pointing out into the desert. "Anything goes in this extreme race."

One by one they placed the emeralds on the stone pedestal at the top, the six of them forming a line. The set was almost complete but there was enough energy here to completely energize the key.

Jet regarded the Emeralds with a hungered expression for a moment. If he was quick enough, he could power up the key and end it right now.

The noble, more competitive, side of him however refused to let him do that. He was going to win them first… he wanted to earn this particular victory rather than steal it.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, without further ado we begin the race to determine who can be crowned the fastest thing alive."

The two of them laid their Extreme Gears in front of them and cast each other a challenging glare before turning to face the course ahead.

"On your marks." Piranha started and the two of them went almost static with rigid anticipation. "Get set."

This was it.

The finals.

People from all over the planet were holding their breath, watching and waiting. Those who couldn't make it to Roc for the finals watched on the live broadcasts on thousands of planets throughout the spiral arm.

Jet the Hawk, a legendary champion who had proven himself time and time again on dozens of planets; the leader of the Babylon Rogues.

Sonic the Hedgehog, a being with immense speed who did the impossible by defeating the Destroyer.

These two legendary figures were about to go head to head in front of billions of people to settle the argument once and for all.

Who really was the Fastest Thing Alive?

"GO!" Piranha dropped the flag and with a bellowing cloud of sandy dust in their wake, the two of them rocketed forward with a tremendous sonic boom that shook the ground.

Jet took the lead, shooting forward past Sonic as they hung in mid air. Flipping his gear around, he landed on the desert floor backwards and used the strange balance to put on a burst of speed.

The blue hedgehog was right behind him as they soured out into the desert, swooping back and forth through the spraying sand they blew into the air behind them.

The course lopped away from the stadium and into the heart of the great desert away from Babylon.

Flying over the top of a sand dune, Sonic tried to cut across Jet's path and intercept him but the Hawk's more advanced knowledge of the terrain paid off and he managed to avoid the attempt by sliding between an outcrop of crumbling ruins. By the time Sonic cleared the dune, Jet had already gained a sufficient amount of ground ahead of them.

Seeing that Jet was clearly more skilled than anticipated, Sonic threw his weight forward tilting his Extreme Gear down and gaining speed.

Jet glanced back to watch the hedgehog's progress for a moment before darting from left to right, purposely sending dust clouds high into the air that Sonic shot right into.

Blinding by the sand Sonic couldn't control his direction and shot off to the side away from the course, leaving Jet an opportunity to fly on ahead leaving the hedgehog behind.

Sonic had to stop to clear his eyes, before throwing as much as he could into his technique in an attempt to catch up.

By the time they past out of sight of both Babylon and the Stadium, camera drones were attempting to keep up but the two of them were going so fast whatever images they sent back showed a green and blue blur fighting for the lead.

"Well it's difficult to tell what's happening exactly from this picture…" Piranha admitted. "But I think Sonic just drew even with Jet and they're about to reach the quarter way point of the race."

Since Eggman had chosen to vacate, the course did not have his robotic deadly traps strewn across it. That did not mean however that it was a safe stretch. Jagged pieces of glass, forged from the heat of the sun on the sand, lanced out of the desert floor as they rounded a corner.

Jet knew these as the glass fields; where the jagged shards were a hazard to the unwary. It wad through these very fields where he had learned to control an Extreme Gear so well, dodging the shards had been the very best practice. Knowing every nook and cranny the Hawk was able to dodge right through while Sonic let out an exclamation before having to put every ounce of agility he had to spinning his way through the glass; narrowly missing being cut to pieces.

"You are going to have to do better than that if you want to win." Jet called back, doing and acrobatic twist over the tip of a tall shard before landing on a clear patch and making a bee line for the far side.

"I'll show you better." Sonic muttered, cupping his hands beside himself. He couldn't get through that angled mess, but then he didn't need to. About turning he gathered the energy necessary and then threw his hands forward. "Sonic Wind!"

Withy a deafening crash, the blue hedgehog shot forward with a tremendous acceleration of speed. The shockwave that coursed before him resonated as a high frequency and began shattering the glass as he past it leaving a clear path that he soured through.

"Nice trick…" Jet murmured as Sonic shot past him. The blue hedgehog shot him a grin before carrying on, shooting towards the horizon.

The hawk managed a smile of his own.

"Too bad it's not unique." Clapping his hands together, Jet arched his back before facing his palms behind him. "Rouge's Height!" To everyone surprise he managed a powerful energy discharge that acted in a similar way to Sonic's own technique, the shockwave propelling him at unheard of speeds.

The two of them became streaking blurs of green and blue, competing with each other for ground over the expanse of the desert.


	40. Episode 20, part 2

Getting onto the transports had been easy.

Keeping his dinner down on the trip up through the atmosphere was perhaps more difficult than Stuart had anticipated. The slaves weren't given seats when being transported. Instead, in true conqueror fashion, they were stuffed into cells and left chained as the transport ships exited the atmosphere.

Part of being a secret agent was the ability to blend into any background to become inconspicuous. It was essential that he not be detected, least of all suspected, so Stuart tried to make himself look as weak as possible. All the slaves in the pens looked malnourished and week. The Confederation was not looking after them well at all and neighing weakness, Stuart blended in well amongst them.

The guards passed him by without as much as a glance in his direction.

Something Stuart noticed however was an engraved mark on many of the Fesonians that past him by. Like a scar, it was carved into the skin on their left forearms. The mark was the shape of a shell with a jagged outline.

Not all of the jailors had the mark and strangely Stuart couldn't recall seeing any of them with it at all during the initial invasion.

"Hey… are you alright?" He asked one of his cell mates, a young man of barley twenty who was sitting in the corner hugging his knees. His face was sunken and there were deep rings of fatigue around his unblinking, terrified eyes.

"No more…" He was muttering under his breath. "Please no more, no more work… no more… too tired… no more…"

"Easy there." Another captive told him, placing a dirty blanket around his shoulders. "All they give us is two hours rest between shifts, night and day; to east and sleep." The older man told Stuart. "Then it's back on the work detail… heavy manual on the surface and non-stop maintenance in space. It's too much, several of the older men and women dropped dead from sheer exhaustion."

"But lately the treatment's been getting worse." Another, a young mobian female mouse added in. "Some of the guards have suddenly gone sadistic. It's as if they find it enjoyable when we die, they laugh and make jokes about it."

"But what's odd is some of the other guards are actually horrified when they do this." The old man stated.

Stuart paused for a moment.

"These newer evil Confederates… do they have marks on their arms?"

"The mark…" The frightened youngster repeated, his eyes dilating. "No! Keep the mark away… the icon of the devil… keep it away!" Scrambling into the corner, he pinned himself to the wall like a frightened mouse.

"They started using the mark about a month ago." The mobian woman told him. "At first it was only one or two… then more than half our guard detail had it on their arms and as soon as they did, they became almost…" She hesitated, pausing as the shadow of a Confederate guard cast itself on the bars of their cell. As the jailor walked back, Stuart noticed the same mark on his left arm.

Silence endured until the found of the footsteps faded away.

"Well… almost perverse." She added not meeting Stuart's eyes.

"My advice is to just keep your head down and not make any trouble." The old man told him. Stuart just managed a sly grin.

"Nothings going to chance if we all do that, is it?" He asked before pulling himself to his feet. Gazing out through the bars, he could see a window on the side of the wall. By now they had cleared the atmosphere and should be docking with the orbital defences.

Strangely, all of Eggman's own ships and fighters seem to have vanished. Stuart couldn't see the Egg Carrier either. Had the doctor gone elsewhere to enjoy his new status? If he had that worked rather well for the resistance.

"Hey you." He called out and the confederate turned to look back over his shoulder. "Yeah you… anyone ever tell you that you look like a freak?"

"What the hell are you doing, man?" The old worker asked in alarm. Stuart simply winked at him before carrying on.

"You Fesonians are all freaky newts with a god complex." He yelled out. The guard did not look happy at that remark. "Oh, didn't like that? Well come and get me." The Confederates reached to his side and withdrew the plasma sword stabbed to his belt; the blade glowing a pale violet.

"So we've got a funny guy have we?" The alien asked, prodding Stuart through the bars with the tip of the sword. There was a discharge of energy and the man collapsed to his knees, crying out in pain. "You'll feel a little less like flapping your lips after a full work detail."

"Gonna have to do better than that to shut me up." Stuart hissed, managing a smile despite the agonizing pain his muscles were in.

"Believe me; that can be arranged." The guard snorted, opening the cage door. Stuart was dragged violently out and slammed twice against the floor before being pressed hard against the bars of the cage on the far side of the corridor. "We have ways of dealing with 'tough guys'."

It wasn't long before the transporters docked with one of the massive orbiting stations and Stuart was escorted off the ship by two soldiers and was met by an officer. Despite the concussion Stuart could see that this officer had a mark on his arm as well.

"This is the one sir." Stuart was forced to look the officer in the eye. The Fesonian regarded the human sceptically for a moment, before slamming his muscular tail around smacking it into his face. The effect was more like a punch than a slap.

"Alright human… you're going to listen to me because I'm tired to repeating myself to your backwards little race." He told him as the soldiers held the human rigid. "You are the commoners, we are the elite. We are your bourgeoisie. You do as we say and that is all there is to it."

Stuart was made an example of.

Punched, kicked and subjected to other forms of torture he was shown before the other workers as they exited the craft. By the time they were finished it was clear he was in no fit state to work so he was escorted away.

That had been exactly what Stuart was waiting for. If he had stayed with the workforce he would be watched all the time. As soon as they were out of sight from any other Confederation Guard, Stuart sprung to action. Despite the beating he had been given he tackled one of the Fesonians to the ground stealing the plasma sword at his belt. The second guards drew his weapon but before he could use it, the human was driving it through his belly; the tip sticking out the far side.

With his escort disposed of, the infiltrator quickly set about his mission. Hammer of Thor intelligence given to them by the Black Arms said that the Central Processor, the means by which the Emperor of the Confederation controlled their fleets, was hidden somewhere on the lower decks.

With the right command input, Stuart could reroute the data flow and confuse the Confederates occupation fleet long enough for the Black Arm ships to take off from the surface of Mars.

What appeared to be more difficult than first imagined.

The central processor was a completely spherical machine surrounded by four metallic pipes that ran up to an extremely high ceiling. It was alien technology… not something Stuart was fluent in.

"Ok… change of plan." He muttered to himself. There was no way he was going to be able to reprogram it. It was time for a more direct approach.

Bringing his stolen sword back, Stuart tensed himself before driving the weapon deep into the glowing orb.

There was a loud cracking sound as the orb cracked like an egg and spilt open, a flash of light erupting into the room.

Instantly loud alarms started blaring around the entire station. Stuart thought he'd been detected, but the next instantly the ground beneath his feet began to shake as something hit the station at high speed.

"What the hell?" He started. Racing to a window on the far side of the central processor Stuart stared out along the atmosphere of the Earth and was greeted with a bizarre sight.

The Confederation ships were shooting at each other.

* * *

-

Clashing for dominance, Sonic and Jet sped over the expanses of the desert; sliding two and fro between rocky formations and half buried old Egyptian style ruins. As if they knew no fatigue they kept going, swaying back and forth sending huge columns of dust flying up into the sky.

Refusing to give into each other, they threw each ounce of their agility, speed and technique into this one race.

As expected, Jet's familiarity with the terrain was giving him the advantage; one he was using as much as possible because Sonic was better at Extreme Gear than anticipated. Despite only learning of the sport a few months ago it seemed like there was hardly any trick he couldn't perform with the board.

But Jet wasn't without skill either.

Clearing the glass fields they entered the middle stretch of the course, marked on the screen in the stadium as the Feet of the Colossus.

A long canyon like valley, shadowed on either side by the ancient ruins jutting out of the vertically dropping rocky walls. Fixed high above on the top of both sides of the canyon were the weathered the remains of two massive bronze feet.

Cracked off at the shins, these sand blasted metallic remains were testament to a statute that had once stood there which had to be have been at least two hundred feet tall.

Jet took the lead, diving down from the canyon top to a ledge below; using the angled downward decent to gain a stronger lead.

Sonic was right behind him, landing a little lower down on the crumbling remains of an ancient stone ledge that cracked at the sudden impact.

"Not smart hedgehog." Jet called back, about turning on his gear to face he opponent. Cupping his hands behind him the hawk gathered energy in a display of intense light before throwing his hands forward. "Rogue's Height!"

The discharge of energy shot back, smashing into the ruins with a tremendously loud crash. It began splintering, pieces of it flaking off and falling down towards the bottom of the canyon.

Making an alarmed face, Sonic reached up at the last second grabbing the branch of a half dead trees growing out of the side of the canyon wall. Using that of spin off the ledge as the entire thing collapsed, the blue hedgehog was propelled high into the air.

"I thougth Shadow and I were the only guys who could do that." He muttered to himself, pulling his gear sharply up to slow his descent.

True, he had seen others learn energy manipulation techniques but it was hardly something one picked up on the fly. Just who taught Jet to do that?

Pressing down on the tip of his board, Sonic went into a dive; freefalling through the air down between the canyon walls. He could see that the course slopped up ahead to run between the Feet of the Colossus themselves and angling his descent just right, the blue hedgehog come down nearly right onto of Jet.

The shockwave made by the sudden movement in the air knocked the hawk forward several feet, nearly slamming into the side of the canyon.

"Damn it, you're getting on my nerves." Jet snarled back as Sonic came up level with him.

Their two boards clashed together, trying to force each other off the course as they carried on at tremendous speed.

"Meow! Sonic! Go, get that bird!" Sera called out, trying to make her voice known above the roar of the crowd.

"You heard her Sonic, give that hawk's butt!" Amy added on, joining her rival for the blue hedgehog's affection in cheering him on.

Knuckles was sitting there silently with a stern look on his face. He'd been like that since the beginning of the race. That weird feeling of momentary significance had not past. In fact it had grown even more bothersome and by now the Echidna was certain that something monumental was about to happen.

Shooting up between the toes of the fallen bronze giant, Sonic managed to get a slight lead and in the narrow path between the sheets of rusting metal Jet couldn't pass him.

Sonic took the opportunity to bend over and pat his backside, making several other insulting gestures to the rogue behind him.

"Come on Jet, can't go any faster than that?" He laughed back.

Seething rage was clear on the hawk's face.

Cupping his hands, he began focusing energy into the space between his fingers. Sonic forced his face into a grin.

"Rogue's height!" He shouted, throwing the attack forward. Waiting for the right moment, Sonic ducked under the intense attack; which soared past him and struck the shining bronze of the massive foot.

Reflected back, the attack wasn't as powerful as before but it was enough to send Jet tumbling back over the rocks and out of sight.

"Sucker!" Sonic called back and soared on to take a very strong lead. "I can't believe he fell for that."

The Falcon crowd roared angrily, seeing their champion tumble back several dozen feet while his rival soured on. Their angry cries echoed out from the stadium and lying in the sand, Jet heard them.

As if they gave him new energy the Babylon Rogue got back up, shaking the sand out of his feathers.

"Sonic's managed to gain himself an intense lead, but it doesn't seem like Jet's given up on this just yet." Piranha announced. "Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you can appreciate that this is a duel between true racing champions."

Past the Feet of the Colossus was a long stretch of open flat desert identified on the screen above the stadium as the Fields of Scorch.

Sonic was the first to find out why the name was apt.

"What the… Aggh.. hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot!" He yelled, feeling the searing heat the sands contained flying at him like something had physically hit him. Within moments his Rengoku was heating up itself and it was becoming too hot to stand on. "Oh this is not good." The blue hedgehog muttered, finding that the undersides of his sneakers were beginning to melt, a sticky tar like substance attaching the bottom of his foot to the board.

If he was running, something like this wouldn't have been a problem. His feet wouldn't have had any contact with the ground at all.

"You're mine blue boy!" Jet declared, souring off the edge of a rocky outcrop and propelling himself into the air.

Sonic glanced up in time to see the hawk gathering energy between his hands. Acting on pure instinct, Sonic did the same with his own hands by his side calling upon the inner chaos inside him.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment as their eyes met.

That moment past.

"Rouge's Height!" Jet declared throwing his hands forward with encircling gusts underneath him.

"Sonic Wind!" The blue hedgehog shouted in reply; placing his palms flat forward as the vortex began to circle.

The two energy based attacks, one glowing bright blue the other a brilliant white collided in mid air. The result was a back lashing shockwave that sent both of them flying away from each other, tumbling back over the sand before finally skidding to a halt.

Managing to right himself before he hit the burning sands, Jet hovered to a stop nearby.

Sonic didn't get off so easily. He plunged head first into the sand.

"AGGH!" He cried, barley hanging onto his floating board as he pulled himself back out. His face had gone pale red as if pressed against a hot plate. "Damn it, that really stings."

Remembering he was still in a race, Sonic glanced back to see Jet already soaring off towards the horizon.

"I hope you people watching at home are recording this. If you, what the hell are you doing?" Piranha asked as the two racers soured across the burning sands, still trying to outdo each other. "Neck and neck, both our fantastic competitors are now on the homeward stretch. Anything can happen at this point!"

The sands seemed to get hotter the further they moved into the field.

"Owie, Owie, Owie, Owie!" Sonic kept repeating, hoping from one foot to the other as if he was stepping on hot coals.

Jet wasn't going to waste energy on theatrics now. He had seriously underestimated his opponent. With everything at stake the rogue poured everything he had into speed. He had to maintain.

"Yo Jet, chill out dude." Sonic called up as the hedgehog started to close the gap between them. "What's the point of all this if you're not having fun?"

"This isn't a game, hedgehog!" The hawk called before sliding down the side of a near vertical drop in the desert floor.

The two racers were approaching now the last hurdle in the course before the stretch back to the Stadium and the finishing line.

This area Jet had long since known as the Dragons teeth. Jagged rocks lanced out of the sands running in a straight line down a ditch over two miles long, overhanging the grove like an arch. More forged glass lanced out of the sand at regular intervals, making this the most treacherous part of the course.

Coming up level alongside the rogue, Sonic tried to jab him off to the side with a carefully timed jab. Jet dodged the attempt before swinging back striking the blue hedgehog's gear and nearly knocking him into a small collection of sharp glass. Waving his arms about, trying to pull himself backwards Sonic barely managed to avoid being impaled.

Flying up the side of a rock, Jet used it as a ramp to propel himself into the air. Doing an intense acrobatic flip he gained some ground, putting himself further ahead of the hedgehog.

Sonic followed suit on a rock on the opposite side and the two of them started zigzagged back and forth across the ditch trying to outdo each other.

Each and every time they came closer and closer to colliding, going faster and faster.

As they nearer the end of the Dragon's Teeth, Jet chose this moment to end it. Flying deliberately at Sonic as they soared up into the air, he prepared himself for a ram.

Seeing him coming, the blue hedgehog adjusted the position of his feet on the board before swinging himself around a full 350 degrees.

The swing brought the tip of his board forward sharply, smashing against the side of Jet's as they shot close. Sonic had dogged the attack.

Damaged and trailing smoke; Jet found his footing lost as his Gear dropped like a rock towards the desert.

Desperately trying to pull himself out of his dive, the rouge only just managed to regain control of the board before he could plough into the sand. The momentary confusion however was all Sonic had needed.

Even as Jet was recovering, the blue hedgehog was speeding ahead, soaring left and right between the sand dunes back towards the stadium.

With a growl of intense frustration, Jet forced his damaged gear on.

"It's the final stretch, and Sonic has taken the lead!" Piranha declared. The spectators were sitting up right rigid with anticipation. By now they could see the two competitors as they cleared the dunes, moving onto the final run towards the finishing line.

Jet was in trouble. His gear was dipping up and down, unable to keep itself steady. It was loosing speed. Sonic kept on pulling further and further away.

He was going to beat him to the finishing line.

"Nooo!" The hawk cried out refusing to acceptt it, forcing his tired gear on. As Sonic shot past the last set of half buried ruins before entering the stadium, he didn't notice Wave watching him.

There was simply too much at stake for this potential loose. Jet was not going to like it but now there was no choice.

Everything was riding on the outcome to this one race.

With hardly a second thought she reached into her pocket and pulled out a detonator.

Sonic was inches away from crossing the finishing line when the small device, hidden on the underside of his Rengoku for more than two months exploded.

The blast tore through up through his gear, ripping it in half with an intense fireball. The shockwave knocked him up into the air, spiraling up out of control before falling to the ground trailing smoke. Fragments of his gear scattered across the stadium floor, clattering against the sides of the stands; some pieces still burning.

As the hedgehog rolled to a stop in the sand Jet shot across the finishing line, claiming both first place and the entire Ex Galactic Grand Prix.

"SONIC!" Amy cried out, leaping over the side of the stands before anyone could stop her and racing towards the blue body which wasn't moving.

The crowds response was that outrage. Screams, even from the Falcon's, could be heard echoing out across the stadium and even the entire city of Babylon.

Jet ignored them, slid to a halt and flipped his gear up under his arm. So what if they considered this dishonorable? He had already won. Both the Title and the Chaos Emeralds.

"Sorry folks. But as the rules say, anything goes in this tournament." Piranha stated to the crowd. "Jet wins the tournament and is now officially the fastest thing alive!"

Sonic grunted and picked himself up out of the sand, shaking it out of his quills. A shadow past over him, with bared teeth he looked up to see the rouge standing over him.

"Hah. The dirt suits you so well." Jet stated almost sadistically and with a sharp turn of his heal, sprayed a cloud of dust into the hedgehog's face.

"Sonic! Sonic!!!" Amy cried kneeling down beside him. The blue hedgehog tried to move but his body felt numb. The inertia had left him unable to move and even thought the temporary paralysis was already receding he still wasn't able to get up off his knees.

Thus so he couldn't stop Jet from marching to the stop of the stone steps towards his prize; the six chaos emeralds.

The Falcon dodged the bottles hurled by the crowd until he reached the top where the emeralds were placed waiting for him. Smiling he reached into his feathers and took out the item he had been carrying with him all say.

A dark stone box, the outline glowing a soft blue light.

True that there was still an emerald missing but for his purposes he didn't need all seven. Six was more than enough to activate the key and show him the way.

"Father… this is for you." He muttered softly, holding the key forward towards the Emeralds. "Show me the way to the refuge of Poola the wise, the great Prometheus! Show me the Babylon Garden!"

One after the other, the emeralds started glowing and while their collective might was not in full force, the energy they radiated began to pulsate strongly.

In the frozen depths of Nexus, all three of Black Doom's eyes widened dramatically.

"It begins."


	41. Episode 21, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 21:The Ancient Garden

* * *

Void had effectively requisitioned the entire dimensional-incursion task force and directed it at once to the hunting down of the mysterious force known to them as Loki. His political enemies in the Tribunal council protested to no end but after Void had a brisk talk with Queen Illumina, all authority concerning this breech was delegated to him.

Reinforced by the queen's own backing, Void bulled his way through all the bureaucratic red tape the Tribunal had interlaced like a web throughout itself.

Going where no one else had gone, he proceeded into the Ancestral archives of their people to read the scrolls of Founding.

These ancient tomes were one of the few artifacts that predated even Queen Illumina herself and even before the exodus where by their people came to Maginaryworld for the first time.

For three whole days he stayed in the Archives, consulting the scroll without pause before he emerged with new orders for his men.

The Feline world of Fellena was to be quarantined and ever square inch of its surface and innards was to be examined for clues as to what dimensional realm the incursion on that world came from.

Lumina Flowlight, one of Queen Illumina's personal guards, watched from afar and said nothing. She could see more in Void's reactions than others could. She knew him best and observed the fear and anxiety in his eyes, the expression on his face during times of fatigue and even in the way he moved.

Something he suspected, that he feared; he was finding more and more evidence for and it scared him.

He said nothing of his suspicions to her although from what she could gather it was a very important issue that required his full attention and so she silenced her curiosity, leaving him to get on with his work.

Within the space of a year everything else had been placed on hold and all of Maginaryworld's resources was being pumped into the Fellena case.

Never in Maginaryworld's history had that been done.

By then it became obvious that whatever Void was working on, it was a threat of monumental proportions.

Even the Destroyer himself hadn't provoked that kind of a reaction.

"I am sorry Void but there is nothing more I can tell you about them." Lumina had been poised to enter the Queen's chamber in the Imperial Palace but stopped with her hand just above the handle. The door itself was slightly ajar and she could hear Illumina's voice echoing out. "Everything we have was in the scroll of Founding. I can't tell you anything more."

"Can't… or won't?" Void's own voice added.

Lumina pushed the door open a crack more and pepped through.

The Precious Stone, the artifact that maintained the stable piece of reality in an otherwise chaotic realm, stood on a podium in the centre of the chamber before the throne itself and the rows of seats for the Council.

The rest of the Tribunal were absent and the queen herself, reverted to her normal size; sat upon the throne with Void in front of herself; standing in a completely unrefined way and with the standard look of defiance he always wore while in her company.

He had still not forgotten the time he spent locked inside Radiant Emerald or forgiven the queen for it.

"Don't be impertinent, Void." The queen told him sharply. "The Titan's are a mystery, even to me."

Void scowled and turned away, moving towards the exit.

"Why do I have trouble believing that?" He asked under his breath.

Lumina pulled back from the door as Void pulled it back for him to pass through.

Void had let his green hair grow longer and now it hung around his shoulders and loosely over the right hand side of his face in a curtain. His cape was longer too, adopting the style taken by some of the Tribunal council members.

"You shouldn't listen through doors." He told her as he past by, suddenly looking intensely fatigued. "It's a bad habit to pick up."

"Titan's?" Lumina asked. Void stopped in his tracks and looked back at her. "Void you can't possible believe that…"

"Believe me, I'd much rather this was just paranoia but I'm afraid the more I delve the more I think…" He stopped and rolled his eyes, placing a hand across his face. "To be frank I don't know what I think anymore."

Without warning there was a loud crashing sound and the crystal floor beneath their feet trembled with the shockwave. There were alarmed shouts from the nearby rooms followed by more loud crashes that signaled that piles of important documents had been knocked over.

"What was that?" Lumina asked.

"Blaze is back." Void replied wearily.

Out in the courtyard, dozens of squires and courtiers ran out of the way as fiery detonations blew pieces of serrated crystal off the floor.

The feline stood in the centre of the devastation, holding both hands aloft her fingers surrounded by a pale orange glow.

Two fires burned atop the apex of braziers placed along the walls and calling forth her refined powers, Blaze lived up to her very name and manipulated the flames. They burnt like an inferno, sourcing along the ground at her will; spiraling up like intertwining serpents before being unleashed in a fiery display that shook the ground.

Once everything within radius was a reduced to smoldering piles of ash, Blaze lowered her hands and let out a long sigh.

"Pyrokinesis. Interesting new trick." She heard a voice state. Turning she turned to face Void as he waltzed amidst the destruction she had exacted upon the ground.

"Actually it's was one of the first skills I mastered." Blaze sighed. "It's what earned me the name my father gave to me. I got a lot of grief for it too, early on in my life."

Void managed an ironic smile, before glancing around at the scared wreckage scattered around them.

"Any particular reason you choose to carve up the lobby?"

Blaze put her face into a deep frown, reached behind her and took hold of her claymore sword. With a loud, but oddly scrapping sound she removed her weapon and held it out for him to see.

At the sight of her broken metallic blade Void grimaced.

"Look, I'm aware that you Asgard worshippers like to fight but you really could learn to adopt some patience. You're not going to get to the bottom of this Loki mystery by starting a fight with every person who you think is offending your honour."

"A broken blade shows a lack of skill." The feline muttered in annoyance, staring at the jagged cut that ran almost directly from the tip of her sword to the shaft hilt, a scar received when it shattered during a powerful strike. "And for all of it, I still didn't get any useful information."

"Given the display, I'm not surprised." Void clapped his hands together before pressing them down on the floor. The crystal like buildings around them both glowed intently for a moment before the cracked scars and blown holes began healing. Within moments one couldn't even tell there had been any damage done at all. "It wouldn't hurt for you to learn some degree of subtly."

"Subtly is for people who have time for it." Blaze remarked. "Time is one of the few resources we do not have." Her frown deepened. "The more time we waste the more Loki has to prepare."

"Preparation will mean nothing if we do not know where our enemy is."

"The frozen depths of Hel, how many more times must I tell you?" Blaze asked.

"Hel.. Or indeed… HELL… is merely a concept. It doesn't not physically exist. One can not simply travel there."

Blaze made a face before turning away.

Void regarded her for a moment before smiling.

"Come with me." He said and started off. Blaze looked back over her shoulder at him before she walked after the small being.

"Lumina, keep an eye on that feline will you?" Void asked as he floated past the fairy like girl. "Her temper lives up to her name." With little time to ponder this Lumina had to follow him as he led the two girls down towards one of the sealed vaults within the palace strong room.

Occasionally Maginaryworld scouts and explorers would come across artifacts in various realms deemed dangerous to both that realm's own populace and others and so they were confiscated and placed here.

Void opened one of the massive crystal doors in the vaults and moved back, allowing Blaze to step inside. The vault within was small with a vertical slab directly in the middle. The walls were engraved with decorative angels and strangely, the image of a man wearing a helmet with doves' wings on either side.

Placed upon this slab was something she knew well enough by reputation.

It was a war hammer with a long ivory handle stunned with bronze and gold with a blood red ribbon tied to the far end in a loop. The large striking end was rectangle shaped with bronze reinforcement around its outer edges. The entire weight was made of a strange ebony colored substance that looked like marble but less smooth. As if part of the substance itself, written into the block were runes of a sort.

The felines had runes as a written language but these she could not read. Not that she had to.

Her father had told her about this legendary weapon since she was a child and dozens of time it had been quoted on in the fables of her people.

"The writing there is ancient form of text that my ancestors used when they first migrated to Maginaryworld." Void stated as she moved forward, never taking her eyes off the weapon for an instant.

"Translated, the word written there is 'Mjolnir'." Lumina added.

"The hammer of Thor." Blaze breathed in complete and utter awe. The legendary weapon wielded by the son of Odin, reputed to be used by the god to slay the serpent Jormungand on Ragnarok.

Long during the siege the Dragon Blood had on her world did she long for this weapon. The Ragnarok beast, named after the end of the world and maybe even a spawn of Jormungand, would not have stood against its power.

Some powerful thought dawned on her in that moment and she turned around to face the two of them.

"Maginaryworld… is… is Valhalla?" She asked.

"In a sense, but you'll not find Odin or anyone who died in combat here Blaze." Void told her. "That weapon you carry was made by one of the founding members of the Tribunal court just after the Exodus.

It's a holy relic here so we keep it in the palace at all times." He smiled impishly. "Go ahead, pick it up."

"Sure that's such a great idea?" Lumina whispered to him as Blaze gingerly began to place her fingers on the marble like hilt.

"I know what I'm doing." He assured her.

Blaze found that despite its appearance, the hammer was surprisingly light and she lifted it off its resting place without much difficulty. When she had had it tight in her grasp however she discovered why his hammer was renowned for being so powerful. The slightest twitch along her arm and the entire weapon swung around and stuck the side of the wall with tremendous force. A shockwave passed through the air and the wall cracked and shattered; shards of the crystal flying into the air.

Blaze tried to exercise some control over the weapon but the more she tried, the harder it became; the slightest movement her hands made caused the entire thing to swing with all its might into whatever was in its radius.

Eventually she wad forced to drop the thing.

"Power… but wilful." Void muttered; casting a glance around at the damage the hammer had done to the inside of the vault. He placed his hands upon the side and the crystal walls started healing themselves.

Blaze unhooked the animal skin sheathe from around her back and placed it on the floor next to the dropped hammer. Taking one last look at the sword that had served her so long, she cast it aside.

It didn't take her long to adapt it and then loop the thing around the long hilt of the war-hammer. Without touching the weapon she strapped it to her back.

"I just suppose we'll have to see who has the stronger will." She replied.

Suddenly the crystal walls, ceiling and floor changed from multi-coloured to blood red. A loud screeching filled the air, repeating itself over and over again.

An alarm.

"What the hell?" Void demanded.

"Sir!" A courtier came running up the corridor towards him. "It's a dimensional breech sire, massive shockwave passing through the realms." The shaking ground intensified with a sudden lurch and parts of the crystal buildings started to crack. The sky above was darkening and bolts of red lightning were passing back and forth admits the sudden storm clouds.

Void ran all the way to the building responsible for the monitoring of dimensional breeches. Every alarm in the entire structure was blaring red and dozens of people were running about trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Sir, the shockwave keeps doubling in strength as it strikes each realm." One of them called up as Void entered the central command centre with Blaze and Lumina just behind him. "At this rate it's going to completely shatter the boundaries."

"Somebody give me a reading!" Void demanded.

"Analyzing now sir." Someone else stated; their hands placed down on the pure crystal control panel.

"Registering…" There was brief pause. "Holy crap, a registering of 6.9!... no 7.1…. 8.9… it keeps going up! Now its 10.5"

"10.5!?!" Void exclaimed in utter disbelief. "That's impossible! Find out where that shockwave's coming from!"

"Origin still unknown sir, there's too much interference from the shockwave itself to tell at this point." Another crystal glowed bright red and a wail echoed out, the light around them turning red as well and flickering on and off. "Shockwave approaching Maginaryworld! It'll hit us in 15 seconds!"

"Colossal dimensional breech incoming, brace for impact!" Void shouted; slamming his hand down on a platform and his voice was instantly beamed out over the entire city. "T-minus ten seconds and counting!" He turned back to Blaze and Lumina with a genuinely worried expression on his face. "Hold on something!" He grabbed a hold of the edge of the crystal controls. "This is going to be a doosey."

Neither Blaze nor Lumina had enough time to grab something when the ground underneath their feet shook as if he was being torn apart. As the shockwave itself hit their unstable world, the effects were tremendously power. Dozens of crystal buildings shattered as if struck by a hammer, fissures opened up in the streets and the sky sparked as if it was being boiled. The Chaos kept at bay by the Precious Stone seemed to intensify and parts of its reality warping pollution started to seep through the protective barriers Illumina maintained around their world, changing anything it came into contact with.

The queen herself gasped, her eyes widened and shock spreading across her ageless face.

"Prometheus!" She breathed.

* * *

--

While Eggman had not been present at the Stadium, he was aware of what was going on. He was nearer than everybody thought. Hanging in low orbit of Roc, the Egg Carrier was waiting. The Falcon Admiralty's orbital defences didn't notice a thing. The light refraction drive Eggman had created using Confederation technology rendered his battleship completely invisible.

The Doctor was waiting.

He said in the empty bridge in total darkness. The entire Egg Carrier was on silent running and not a single device was left on, although still in stand-by mode ready to go at a moments notice.

To pass the time the Doctor sat alone thinking. Thinking was one thing he did exceptionally well, given the occasional burst of childlike foolishness. Despite the Doctor's outwardly calm appearance, inside he was almost bursting with anxiety and confusion.

The facts revealed to him by Dark Oak bit deeper than the General could ever know. The true enemy in all of this was only something for Eggman to focus on; the rest of it stunk like a thousand wasps. It burned his ego like nothing before and Eggman could not deny its truthfulness, which made it an even more bitter pill to swallow.

All Eggman was left with now was a mere chance to prevent a cataclysmic event and... perhaps in the process find some absolution.

He opened one eye when one of the sensors on the control panel in front of him started beeping.

Before he could enquire, the meaning for the sudden alarm was brought sharply to his attention as a shockwave heading up from the planet's surface smacked into the Egg Carrier. The entire ship shook from stem to stern sand dozens of alarms started blaring at once.

While the intensity of the shockwave was unexpected, the event itself was the very thing Eggman had been waiting for.

Running his hands over the consoles, he powered up the Egg Carriers inertia dampeners and bringing the thrusters online.

"Decent velocity; all engines ahead full!" He declared.

The sky all over Roc darkened in that instant, storm clouds emerging out of nowhere. Bolts of lightning, serenaded by claps of thunder burst down out of the heavens to scar the desert below. The entire city of Babylon tipped violently to the side as horribly strong winds began encircling around the sky.

"Meow!!! What's going on?" Sera started in alarm, gazing up as chaos erupted across the entire planet.

The disturbance didn't just settle with Roc. It spread up through the atmosphere rattling the planet's orbital defences and the Battle Bird Fleet. Planets in its solar system shock and as the effects spread out, worlds as far away as the Combined Federation rumbled as quaked.

Finally the shockwave hit and Jet was thrown clear of the Key floating just above. Tumbling down the stairs he crashed into the sandy floor of the area. The shockwave carried on, knocking over anyone on their feet. Mighty sand storms were whipped up outside the stadium itself.

The key was changing. Its cube like shape kept morphing, the slots making up its surface peeling back one by one until it lay as flat as piece of paper and revealing that inside this Then it began remoulding itself, folding back in over until it finally chose its new form; a relic in the shape of a falcon with spread wings.

Slowly it turned until its head was facing the desert. Its eyes glow bright blue before its beak opened up and a shrill cry echoed out into the air. A beam of light issued forth, passing over the land and striking the sand over half a dozen or so miles away.

Instantly a column of sand rocketed up like a geyser from the desert floor; its tip piercing the sky.

The ground heaved up before finally breaking as the top of a stone tower erupted from the sand. Like a monster emerging from the depths the tower rose, moving further and further up until it nearly seemed to puncture the very sky. Once the enormous building was up a set distance, its base emerged but still it kept rising. A high encircling wall engraved with ancient murals on the outside. Still it kept going up, further and further. There seemed to be no end to it.

Then finally it tapered off, but even then it didn't stop rising. As if it were a second Angel Island the entire tower kept on going up and up. Its shadow cast itself over the city of Babylon almost complete and was visible from orbit.

There it hung, floating with bolts of white lightning occasionally rippling down its length before leaping to the ground.

General Kukku; who had managed to get back up to his feet, dropped back into his seat in surprise at the sight.

"It… it's…" Wave was stuttering, unable to finish the sentence beyond the first word. Storm was stand standing there with his beck pressed shut.

As jet started to pick himself back up out of the sand he started laughing. Once back on his feet he tilted his head back and laughed as hard as he could.

"I knew it… I knew my father didn't destroy the Thieves Guild for nothing." Stepping forward aggressively he jabbed a finger towards the floating fortress. "It's the refuge of Poola the Wise, the great Prometheus. The Babylon Garden!"

Racing past the other Rogues to the top of the steps he found his transformed key hanging there in mid air with the six emeralds orbiting around it. He'd been right. He hadn't needed all seven to activate it; the six had indeed been enough.

Finally… he'd been working to this end for years. Over a decade of research into the old Titan legends had been well spent.

Slowly he reached up to grasp the Falcon.

Before he could, bolts of golden energy came screaming out of the sky; all three striking him across the chest sending him hurtling across the stadium to smash into the wall on the far side.

Dozens of Chaos Spear attacks started crashing down all over the Stadium, many of them striking at the Tournament security and one coming dangerously close to hitting Piranha.

"Jet!!" Wave called out, before a golden bolt came out of nowhere towards her. Storm threw his body in the way, taking the full force of the attack shielding his comrade from harm. Unfortunately the shockwave toppled him over and he crashed down, nearly crushing her underneath his belly.

"Shadow!" Sonic called up, before an attack with the blue hedgehog's name on it flew down at him. The energy was stronger than the others and Sonic only just managed to push Amy out of the way before it struck home. The explosion threw Sonic across the Stadium trailing smoke until he crashed headfirst into the stands.

As the spectators started running and screaming, a burst of green light erupted from the top of the stairs and Shadow emerged out of a Chaos Control.

The mark on his arm was glowing bright orange.

"I could say this is nothing personal…" He muttered giving them a half glance. "But something tells me that would be in bad taste right now." The dark hedgehog simply turned around and snatched the key out of the air.

With it in his grasp he extended his free hand towards the six emeralds. There was a pulsing of light and all of them moved to start floating around Shadow, followed by a sudden quickening and the dark hedgehog's fur went shining silver for a brief moment before reverting.

"Enough, Shadow!" A voice stated. Shadow glanced back over his shoulder as a metallic projectile flew out of the sky. The dark hedgehog narrowed his eyes at it before clicking his fingers. The shuriken instantly exploded into dozens of molten fragments.

Sonic collapsed out of the rubble of the stands onto his hands and knees, his quills filled with dust. Groaning he looked up towards the top of the stairs.

The blue hedgehog's eyes widened at the sight of the person standing before Shadow. It was a mobian fox, with golden orange fur wearing a blue jacket loose on his shoulders. What really marked him were the two busy tails hanging out underneath the coat.

"Sonic! SONIC!" Amy cried, racing up what as left of the stadium stairs towards him. Even when the pink hedgehog got to her side he completely ignored her. His eyes fixed forward and mouth hung open, a stunned expression on his face. Slowly he raised a finger and pointed directly forward. "What... what is it?" She asked turning to look.

Within a moment her face was adopting the same expression.

There was no denying who was standing there.

"As much as I'd love to hear the cliché speech about how I'm making such a big mistake…" Shadow started. "I've really got other places to be." He reached out and grabbed one of the emeralds moving around him. The jewel glowed blood red between his fingers.

The fox narrowed his eyes.

"Chaos Blast!"


	42. Episode 21, part 2

Throwing the fist with the emerald into the ground Shadow sent a shockwave of destructive red energy bursting out. Somersaulting backwards, Miles dodged the destructive shockwave before back flipping up into the air to avoid it.

"Enough is enough." He declared. "I've a mission, and until I'm finished nobody gets in my way." The fox reached inside his coat. "Not even a friend."

Drawing his sabre in mid air the fox darted in, swiftly jabbing the tip of his sword forward. Shadow dodged around the swipe and then again as Miles tried for another attack.

The third time, Shadow grabbed his wrist as it went past. Drawing the fox in close, the dark hedgehog pinned him there before thrusting a hand directly in front of his face, the red emerald in its grasp glowing.

"Well isn't that a coincidence?" He asked with a widening smile. "I've got a mission too, and like you I can't tolerate interference even from a friend." The emerald glowed brightly. "Goodbye."

The sky turned red for a moment, followed by a tremendous ripple that cut through the air. The body of the fox was thrown clear off the top of the steps to crash into the sand in the stadium floor.

"Tails!" A voice cried and Dark Oak came soaring out of nowhere, unsheathing his sword with a loud metallic hiss. Flying at Shadow he drew the sword back ready to slice the dark hedgehog across the mid section.

Shadow just grinned before tossing the red chaos Emerald back into orbit around him with the others. The six jewels glowed brightly as he extended his open palm forward and clenched a fist.

Even before Dark Oak got close, Shadow fired an extremely powerful Chaos Spear attack directly towards him. There was a bright flash of golden light and the energy screamed forward, striking the general directly. With a sound like rippling thunder the force threw Dark Oak to the ground. His armour was scorched and his double cape burned from his shoulder pads. His scimitar sword sank into the ground a short distance away, smoke rising from scorched patches.

Victorious, Shadow smirked before turning away to stare up at the floating Garden of Babylon.

"If its Angel Wing he wants, then it's Angel Wing he gets." Without another word Shadow disappeared in a soft flash of green light, taking the key and six of the seven emeralds with him.

Before the stunned Falcon admiralty could respond, Doctor Eggman's Egg Carrier dropped its stealth cloak and became visible just beyond the Babylon city limits.

"So that's it is it?" Eggman asked, staring up at the glistening tower that cast its colossal shadow over the entire city. "The Tower of Prometheus… the Refuse of Poola the wise… the Babylon Garden." The Doctor forged a frown before turning his attention to the bridge.

"Computer, bring weapons online; full power." The bridge complied automatically as the ship was awash with automated activity. "I've an Angel Wing to shoot down."

Jet pushed himself out the rubble, shaking the dust fragments out of his fur. Anger was clear in every movement he made. His fists were clenched at his sides and one eye twitched.

From hear he could see the full height of the now revealed Babylon Garden, and the Egg Carrier moving in towards its base.

Slowly he walked forward, the small pieces of broken brick falling off his feathers.

"Jet, Jet; are you ok?" Wave called over as she and Storm scrambled towards him.

"Do I look Ok?" He asked in reply without looking at them. "No I'm not. And I won't be ok until I tear that backstabbing Doctor and that dark hedgehog limb from limb." He turned to give Storm a hard stare. "Rogues, time to show these bastards what we're made of!"

Sonic had ignored everything else completely. Without even thinking he was racing down into the middle of the stadium and to the furry body lying lifeless on the ground.

"Tails!" He cried out, rushing to the fallen foxes side.

Miles tried to pick himself back up but every muscle in his body protested loudly. When he felt a pair of arms loop underneath him and help him up, the young fox gazed up. Even with his double vision he knew who the blue thing in front of him was.

The blue hedgehog managed a smile before winking.

"Dude, the sea captain look is really not you." He stated as he heaved the fox to his feet. "Nice entrance though… keep it up… really some hero potential."

The foxes eyes widened.

"Sonic I…" He started.

"Don't sweat it dude, I won't even ask where you've been or why you didn't even bother to write." The hedgehogs smile widened. "So... can I call you by the nickname or is it Miles all the way?"

Miles picked himself up, cringing at the aching muscles.

"I have a job to do." He stated. "And until I finish it… my name is Miles." Sonic managed a grin.

"Oh, that is so angst! You can teach Shadow a thing or two." Miles did not look impressed.

"You're not making this any easier for me, Sonic."

"Since when do I make things easy for anybody?" There was a brief pause as they stared at each other. Unable to put up the pretence any long, Sonic simply hurled himself at the fox and hugged him tight. "Man, am I glad to see you little buddy."

Miles hesitated for a moment but the compulsion was simply too great. There was too much of Tails left in him. He hugged back.

He had missed Sonic more than even he himself realized.

"Tails?" Amy asked in stunned awe as she reached their side.

"As touching as this is…" Another voice cut in quickly. They all turned as one to see Dark Oak kneeling nearby, pieces of his armour cracks and bits of it even flaking off. "There is another pressing matter that has to be attended to." He pointed squarely up towards the towering edifice above.

* * *

----

Within minutes the Falcon Battle Bird home armada was descending through the atmosphere to bring order back to the planet.

General Kukku was a man in charge of a totalitarian state and frowned deeply upon disorder, at least disorder that he didn't personally authorize. Despite their leaders words however, the ships stalled at the sight that awaited them on Roc.

"What the hell is that?" The Admiral asked in stunned awe, staring at the floating island and tower hovering like a colossal spire above the desert; clad completely in the midst of an electrical storm.

"Its… is the Babylon Garden!" A sub commander gasped, staggering back from his work station.

The falcon's did not have much in the way of a mythology but there was one thing that they did believe in. The refuge of their prophet, Poola the wise.

It was said that a wise man known only to them as Poola came to their people when they were still primitive, trying to survive in this barren land.

He gave them great knowledge of technology, taught them how to not only survive but to prosper here. He brought reason to a time of unending chaos, teaching them to aspire to new heights but while respecting the worlds they lived on. With his work done, it was said he created a retreat for himself and concealed it away from his people.

Folklore stated that while none could see their prophet's sanctuary, he was always close and watching over them.

"There's a ship moving in on sector 5.7." A falcon at the sensor array stated and a moment later the Egg Carrier, a massive battleship clearly not of their ranks, moved past them towards the tip of the tower.

"That ship is in violation of our airspace." The voice of general Kukku himself announced to the ships as he stood holding a communications devices on his private vessel, heading back to the safety of the Presidential bunker in Babylon. "Shoot it down!"

Those orders the Battle bird Armada was more than happy to comply with. Turning all their forward guns on the Egg Carrier the fleet prepared to open fire. As if he had been expecting the attack, Eggman raised the Egg shield and the rapid assault of laser fire simply bounced off the invisible protective barrier.

In retaliation, several large turrets on the back of his ship rose up and fired several dozen warning shots across their bows. Two of these shots exploded so close to one of the Falcon ships to knock it sides to crash into another.

Leaving a hostile fleet to your rear was a terrible strategic move but Eggman did not care. The one and only thing that mattered was destroying the Angel Wing before it could be reached.

"Doctor, come in Doctor." A voice started over the communication systems before the holographic image of Decoe appeared beside Eggman's command seat. "Admiral Baal has arrived at the Egg Factory and Marionette distribution to your designated targets has been completed."

"Good." The Doctor replied. "I will be joining you there as soon as I can. But first I have some business here to take care of."

Eggman's Egg Carrier was not the only ship flying towards the towering edifice that was the Babylon Garden. Two other ships were struggling their way through the massive engulfing electrical storm that spun itself around the tower like a typhoon.

One of them was the ship belonging to the Babylon Rogues. Jet was at the helm, directing the Battle bird standard but repainted cruiser further and further into the storm.

The other ship was an Icarus shuttle from the Blue Typhoon . With hardly any sort of time to get the Typhoon itself Chuck had quickly brought along in one of the few shuttles they had sitting in the Typhoon's hanger bay. Chuck was too stunned with the Babylon Garden to even notice that amongst their party were the golden furred fox and a damaged Metal X general.

It was now a race between Eggman, the Rogues and Sonic's group to see who could get there first.

"Its magnificent." Piranha stated looking out at the floating. "The Babylon Garden… it's beautiful."

"It's just like Angel Island." Knuckles added, unable to take his eyes off it either. Talos and Hyper were captivated by the sight. Brother and sister stood there with awe on their faces.

Aligned together as they were it was clear to see the similarities between them. Even though they were only half brother and sister, and Hyper was half human their shared blood was obvious. Their scales were the same shape and the same exact colour.

Sonic stood by the window staring up at the garden with a stern look on his face.

"Well?" He asked, giving the fox at his side a soft side glance.

"Well what?" Miles asked. "You'll forgive me for not breaking open with emotion on this little reunion Sonic, but we do have something of a crisis here."

"That's not what I meant." The blue hedgehog responded. "What's in this place so dangerous or influential that Shadow would want it?"

"Angel Wing." Miles replied looking a little annoyed.

"I don't understand, where have you been for the past three years"? Amy asked. The fox just shook his head.

"There's no time for that." He told her. "I promise I'll explain later, but we have to act now.

If Shadow opened the gates of the garden he'll be signing all our death warrants." He paused to through the window to his right towards the Egg Carrier and its approach towards the spire of the floating retreat. Being a smaller vessel without so much friction in the severe wings, the Icarus shuttle was overtaking the battleship and would get to its destination before the carrier.

"Eggman has the right idea." Dark Oak added. "This is exactly the kind of offensive we should be making. Black Doom's plans can't go ahead without the Angel Wing."

"Black Doom?" Sonic repeated.

"Like I said, I'll explain all this later." Miles told him. "But please Sonic, for the moment you're just going to have to trust me." Sonic stared from the fox to Dark Oak and back again. His little buddy he trusted… Dark Oak on the other hand...

"And what's your stake in this?" He asked giving the damaged general a skeptical glance. "I thought you were **_from_** Nexus?"

Dark Oak fixed the hedgehog with a stare.

"It is a realm I called home for many a millennia." He stated, before turning away folding his arms in front of himself. "But it is not my birth place." He refused to elaborate on what he meant by that. Sonic just frowned before looking back at Miles.

"Just what was this tournament about?" He asked. "Why the elaborate emeralds hunt?"

"It was a buying time ploy." Miles explained. "As long as the emeralds were scattered, Black Doom couldn't send his agents to pick them up." The fox sighed and slumped his shoulder. "I just never thought it would be Shadow."

"Words can be powerful things." Dark Oak stated. "If used correctly, mere words and not facts can be used to offer chaos as order or oppression as freedom."

"We've got another ship coming in." Chuck announced. Most crowded to the side window as the Babylon Rogues ship swung past, using its superior streamlined shape and engines to power past them.

"Meow. Jet's certainly in a hurry." Sera stated. Sonic followed the movements of the ship before managing a smile.

"Chuck, open the side door." He announced. "I'm going after them."

"Say wha…" Chuck started but the hedgehog was already opening it himself manually.

"Sonic wait." Miles called out. Sonic paused and looked back over his shoulder. "If you want to settle the score with the rogue, I can fix your extreme gear for you." The blue hedgehog was silent for a second as the door open, the winds whipping in and messing up his quills.

"Thanks for the offer." He replied with a slowly spreading smile crossing his lips. "But I'm going to show Jet what having speed really means!" Without a moment's thought he leapt from the tip of the wing, flying into the air with his arms spread wide to slow himself down.

Making the jump, he vaulted from one ship to another and landed directly on the tip of that belonging to the Babylon Rogues. From there he could see Jet and the other rogues standing on the bridge, all looking mutely surprised to see him.

Staring at Jet, the hedgehog made a gestured over his shoulder and winked before about turning and jumping off their ship and free falling down towards the ancient stone catwalks suspended in the air below.

As he expected, Jet was quick to follow leaving their ship in the hands of Wave as he flew on out on his Extreme Gear to meet Sonic's challenge.

Sonic reached the catwalk first and was running even before he hit the ground. Using his board, Jet flew on down and quickly caught up to the Hedgehog soaring alongside him.

"Even when you're running I can race circles around you." Jet confidentially claimed. Sonic simply smiled.

"Forget it Jet. I was holding back before." Slamming his feet down he put on a burst of speed, dodging around the hawk with complete ease and putting himself in front. "Even without wings..." He started, looking back over his shoulder. "I can still fly!"

It was then he showed Jet just how out of his depth he was. Running at speeds his Extreme Gear couldn't hope to achieve, Sonic rocketed forward with a sonic boom echoing out behind him.

Jet was left there with a stunned expression on his face.

Sonic kept on going, running faster and faster and faster… leaving Jet behind even at the hawk's own speeds. Unleashed from the burden of a gear, Sonic display his true speed and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was indeed the fastest thing alive.

Beating Jet by miles, Sonic soared to the heart of the garden and stood before the massive tower. Built around its base was a large stone palace; Arabic in theme with curved walls and spires. It lacked any windows and the only entrance was a massive iron door in front of him. Engraved with Aztec like writing and a few pieces of iconography, it stood completely impregnable and it was hard to tell where the spilt in its occurred.

What took Sonic's attention far more than the palace, the door or even the collection of arranged plants in the outer garden was the item laid on the ground near the door.

Inexplicably the key, the bird shaped emblem was just left sitting there out in the open.

Sonic stared at it for a moment before gingerly picking the item up, studying it close as if trying to deceiver its meaning.

Then with a shrug of his shoulders, he tossed it back over his shoulder.

"Catch." He called as it past through the air. Nimbly plucking it from the air Jet just looked completely stunned.

"Wh..what?" He asked, blinking about four times in stunned amazement.

"Well it is yours isn't it?" Sonic asked, before trying away with a shrug to study the large iron door in front of them.

It wasn't long before they both had company as the small Icarus transport landed down in the palace's courtyard. Miles, Knuckles and Amy where the first to nearly blunder out followed closely by Hyper, Talos, Piranha and Sera. Last to emerge was Dark Oak, still severely damaged and scorched by Shadow's intense Chaos Spear attack.

Sonic mused about the time not so long ago when he and Dark Oak had been attempting to kill each other. Circumstances certainty put together strange bed fellows.

It wasn't long after they got there that Jet's own teammates turned up, using their Gears to propel themselves up the side of the Babylon garden in order to reach the palace itself.

"So this is it huh?" Piranha asked, adjusting his spectacles to gaze up at the seemingly never ending tower. "The fabled Babylon Garden, the home of Poola the wise, the great Prometheus."

"Great Prometheus?" Amy asked him.

"The legendary scientist behind the great advances of the ancient titan civilization." He explained. "According to the old stories, it was because of his knowledge that their culture was able to achieve the ability to travel in space before all others."

Sonic managed a grin. So that was why he wasn't able to find this Prometheus guy before.

The guy he was searching for was probably on the other side of the massive iron door in front of them.

"You think I need your pity?" Jet suddenly asked, barging up to him. "You think I even want it?" He almost shoved the falcon idol into the hedgehog's face. "Don't play games with me. I lost, so just take it back."

Sonic could instantly see the hawk was acting out of injured pride. He'd seen this in Shadow more than once.

"What? Are you nuts?" Wave asked, shoving the hawk aside and snatching the key from his hand. "If they don't want it, then it's up for grabs." She marveled at it for a moment. "Treasure is Treasure." Without another word, she and Storm walked off towards the large iron door.

Jet just stared after them with wide eyes, his hand still open. After that moment of confusion past, he clenched his fist and walked off to catch up. Sonic managed a grin.

"I don't get it." Miles admitted, looking up over his shoulder towards Dark Oak. "The doors still closed; the key here and Shadow nowhere to be seen."

Dark Oak looked around, trying to find some clue in their immediate surroundings to explain this sudden mystery.

Obviously there was something more to this but whatever it was, it wasn't immediately apparent.

The answer came to both of them in a flash.

Turning to look, they saw the Babylon Rogues standing before the great iron door and Jet had the key in his hand.

"STOP!" They both cried at once but it was already too late. Jet pressed the bird like item into the similar shaped slot.

Echoing out from behind the door came the loud sound of metal striking metal repeatedly, as if a large collection of gigantic cogs were turning behind it.

The key began churning, morphing from its bird like shape as the slot forced it to move.

Pieces of it moved back and forth, sliding into the appropriate positions for the lock finally gave away with a tremendously loud clunk.

The carved scriptures on the wall all lit up in places as if the writing itself was being highlighted.

A flash of intense blue light flew up between the crack in the door as both halves began to push open. A flare of intense light came out after like, so bright anyone staring at it had to cover their eyes.

Jet just managed to catch a glimpse of something come hurtling at him before a kick struck him full in the face, sending him flying backwards to crash into Storm.

"I couldn't figure out how to open the door myself." Shadow admitted straightening up. "Thanks for the help."

"I won't let you do this!" Dark Oak snarled, drawing his blade and lancing forward; slashing at Shadow repeatedly.

The dark hedgehog dodged all around the swipes with ease, sliding through the attempt as if it were nothing all. With six of the seven chaos emeralds fueling him Shadow's strength now greatly exceeded the general's.

Grabbing the blade with both hands in mid air, Shadow snapped the sword in half. Using the momentary confusion to his advantage, he brought his hand up and placed it on the surface of Dark Oak's chest plate and ignited another Chaos Spear.

In that moment, when the light from the attack cast itself over Dark Oak's body and his shadow projected onto the far wall; Sonic received a vision of something unexpected.

The general's shadow did not match his body. The shadow's shape was far more slender and streamlined and lacking the shape of his horned helmet. In fact, the shadow had long head hair tied into a ponytail. Most startling of all, the two grey capes that huge from his shoulder pads projected onto the wall the shadow of two large feathered wings.

Dark Oak had the shadow of an angel.

Thrown back by the attack, Dark Oak crashed into a wall with large pieces of his armor breaking off and exposing the mass inside. As Dark oak sank to the ground, half of his helmet fell away, the inner hideous creature obscured by the shadows.

Looking up, Shadow peered through the clouds to see the Egg Carrier approaching with the Falcon Battle Bird Armada right behind it.

With a loud screeching of metal grinding against metal, the two halves of Eggman's battleships red triangular front were beginning to pull themselves aside revealing the charged particle cannon inside. The sharp iron needle like weapon inside was already beginning to spark with the build up of energy.

So Black Doom was right in stated that the Doctor did indeed known of the plan and was prepared to do everything in his power to hinder it.

"He is of no consequence." The voice of Black Doom announced into his mind. "Ignore the fool and revive the ancient sword." Without looking back, Shadow moved forward and stepped through the gate and into the engulfing light. He vanished into its midst and even the sound of his foot steps disappeared.

"Stop him!" Miles cried out and Sonic was already on his feet, pushing himself up despite the pain in his arms and rushing forward.

For a single moment he paused at the boundary between this world and whatever lay beyond the gate. Whatever sudden fear held him was almost instantly dispersed and he vanished into the light.


	43. Episode 22, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 22: Second Winter

* * *

"Dude…" Was all Sonic found he could say.

The light was temporary, folding back like a curtain to reveal what lay beyond the threshold.

He staggered back when he found himself on the entrance to a metallic never ending citadel, a complex so large it defied imagination; stretching further and further off towards the horizon. The ground sloping down from the cliff like shelf the blue hedgehog had emerged on was covered in a sea of pipes, all leading towards to a centre of a massive pit. Even the colossal curved dome like ceiling was curved down, emphasizing this point as being the centre of activity.

Although the structure was clearly technological, it was built in the style of an Aztec civilisation. It appeared to be stone upon stone, but the way light reflected off it showed its metallic nature.

As inconceivable as it was, the palace was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside.

The platform he stood on was a metallic shelf, riveted in places and made completely out of bronze. The massive Iron Gate behind him which had admitted him entry stood there completely alone, not attached to an outer wall whatsoever but still the light from within did not seem to waver.

Neon violet lights flashed on and off everywhere in this bizarre techno universe

There was a short flash of light from behind him and turning, Sonic watched as two patches of darkness emerged out of the gate before they solidified into the forms of Jet and Knuckles.

"Sonic, what's the…" Knuckles started but his words died in his throat at the sight. "Woah…"

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Sonic added.

Jet regarded the scene with a frown. So this was it huh? The refuge of Poola the wise, the man who brought the understanding of science to the Falcon's, the fabled sanctuary? Never once had Jet imagined it would be like this. The technology used to put such a place together had to be phenomenal. What kind of rare and unique treasures could be hidden here?

Hearing a loud cranking sound, the hawk turned around to see that from the outside of the gate the massive iron doors were beginning to swing closed.

"Hey!" Knuckles cried out racing for them. With a tremendous loud smash, the doors slammed shut completely denying them exit.

Amy swung her hammer on the outside, trying to crack it open while Knuckles smashed his fists against it from the inside. Both their attempts to break through the door were made in vain. The material it was made out of or perhaps the technology infused with it simply did not permit the doors opening by force.

"Looks like we're not going anywhere." Sonic told the echidna, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Who needs to go anywhere?" Jet asked after a moment, spreading his arms wide to the massive complex around them. "This place… this place is teeming with tons and tons of lost technology…. This kind of hardware could propel the highest bidder into a new golden age! It's priceless!!!"

"Yeah, yeah, nice dream buddy we got other things to do here." Sonic yawned, carrying on past the hawk towards a short but thin flight of stairs leading down from the ledge. "We got a job to do."

"Speak for yourself, red." Jet muttered as Knuckles walked past him. "I don't care why that Shadow of yours is here, or why he took the Chaos Emeralds. The only thing I'm here for is the treasure my people's prophet must have amassed."

"Is that your only motivation… for all this?" Knuckles asked. "All you were after was gold… jewels… money?!" The Echidna grabbed the hawk by the arms and hissed in his face. "You disgust me."

"I'm a pirate… what did you expect?" Jet asked, brushing the Echidna's arms aside.

"Leave him Knuckles." Sonic called up without looking back. "If he wants to spend eternity going through all this then he's welcome to it." Knuckles looked towards Sonic, then back at Jet before scowling and following after the blue hedgehog.

Jet managed a superior grin before following himself.

This massive realm was so large it had a horizon, the sky a fixed ceiling of technology with dozens of lights moving like traffic above. The streets of this place below in amidst the sky scrapper like machines were just the same, lights moving across their surface with no supported means as if complete independent.

"So… wanna tell us the deal behind that key now?" Sonic asked. Jet fixed him with a hard stare for a moment and their eyes met. Sonic managed a smile.

"Years before I was born, my father headed up the thieves Guild." He eventually stated. "Under his leadership, our organisation prospered until we were the most feared pirates in the galaxy."

Knuckles just muttered something under his breath.

"We were all outlaws, banished for dissident from the Falcon Admiralty by General Kukku the 14th, father of the current ruler.

Our only crime was disapproval of his authoritarian control and his tactics of creating non existent enemies scare the people in order to maintain that control.

We weren't even given a trail. We were simply driven underground and labelled rejects.

To survive we had to live of plundering the Admiralty's ships for whatever they had. My father led many raids and heists and one day, he returned to us with a strange key…" Jet paused. "And a hungered look in his eye."

Sonic smiled. He always liked a good story.

"When he told me what it was, at first I didn't believe him." Jet carried on. "It seemed too incredible to believe, but my father insisted.

He drove the Thieves Guild into acquiring as much information about the Babylon Garden as possible, risking our entire organisation to learn more.

Eventually it lead to our fracturing… and then the battle Bird Armada picked us off one by one.

The Babylon Rogues are the only ones left.

I reorganized us, gave us new names and a new title to hide our identity."

"New names?" Sonic asked. "Then Jet's not your real name?"

"Do names like Storm or Wave sound real to you?" The hawk asked sceptically. "No of course not, they're merely alias's we use to hide our identities from the authorities." The expression on Jet's face hardened. "Only once I find out what's here, why it was so important to my father will I ever use my real name again."

Sonic looked at Knuckles and the Echidna just shrugged.

"Ok, so we know why he's here…" Knuckles started. "What about Shadow?"

"We know he's after the Angel Wing…" Sonic started. "So… where would an Angel Wing…thing be?"

"Given how big it is in legend, there aren't that many places." Jet confessed. "Folklore pins the Angel Wing, the ancient vessel of the Titan civilisation as being larger than a metropolitan city."

"Well, that's pretty big." Knuckles confessed.

"Damn it, why can't the bad guys ever be after something small?" Sonic asked with a grumble.

Before they could take another step, a circle of light surrounded them completely. Before any of them could exclaim in alarm, the light flared so much they had to cover their eyes.

All three of them had the momentary sensation of floating, before being dropped back into reality with a dump. Their surroundings had been completely blurred and they found themselves transported away.

"What the hell was that?" Knuckles asked, picking himself back up. Sonic simply shuddered with his fur standing slightly on end.

"That... that actually felt like a Chaos Control warp." He said, glancing around him. The three of them were standing before the sloping steps of a temple like complex with massive segmented pillars standing before the entrance atop the steps. To all appearance the entire edifice looked like it was made of stone and Aztec like yet the surface was as hard and unmanageable as steel.

"I don't want to alarm everybody, but I think we've been noticed." Jet muttered.

"Who by?" Sonic asked. The hawk gestured around them.

"Who do you think? The guy who owns this place. Who do you think transported us here?"

Sonic made a rare thinking face. So Prometheus knew they were here and had brought them to this place?

"Ok, let's not keep him waiting." The blue hedgehog announced, racing up the steps in a blur of speed.

Jet and Knuckles weren't far behind him.

Entering the temple they found a long corridor continuing on for a short distance before opening up into a chamber of some kind.

"What is this place?" Jet asked glancing around. There was dozens of table like platforms around them all covered in equipment of such an alien design it was unimaginable. There were bizarre shaped beakers with tubes running between them in some strange alchemic display to the far left. Large glass tanks containing bubbling liquid was to the right, attached to the both the ceiling and the floor by machinery. A strange light seemed to emanate from within.

Sonic examining it but he couldn't tell where the glow was coming from. There were no lights inside the tank but the light kept coming. Was the liquid itself giving it off?

"Something right of Frankenstein huh Knuckles?" He asked. When he didn't get a reply, the blue hedgehog glanced back over hi shoulder. "Hey Knuckles…"

The Echidna wasn't listening.

"I don't believe it…" Knuckles breathed, starting forward slowly and staring up at the wall in front of him with an expression of undisguised awe. Sonic joined his side, waving a hand in front of the Echidna's face.

"Yo, Knuckles; come back to me Knuckles." He said but the red echidna just stood there looking awe struck. Following his gaze up to the wall, Sonic noticed that for the first time that etched into the wall was a diagram of some kind. It took Sonic a moment to recognise what these designs were for but as soon as the familiarities started to make themselves known, it became obvious.

The designs were Aztec in appearance, but it was impossible to deny them to be concept blue prints for Angel Island.

The image showed a complex mechanism expressing a technology Sonic didn't understand and in a language he couldn't read. It showed that technology being used inside a large selection of land to levitate it high above the ground. The metallic blue print showed that power centre for this elaborate floating sanctuary came from a shrine placed directly in the centre and clear placed atop this shrine was a diamond symbol.

"Woah…" Sonic stated, lost for anything else to say.

Knuckles started forward, placing his hand on the metallic plate.

"I don't understand." Jet confessed. "Just what is all this?"

"This… this is the design specs and blue print for Angel Island…" Knuckles breathed. "My home… the ancient flying land of my family's guardianship." He stared hard at the image, as trying to figure out if perhaps there had been some mistake. "Its all right here… it explains how the Master Emerald kept the Island flying."

"Then Prometheus created Angel Island?" Sonic asked.

"If he didn't create, he certainly designed it." The Echidna replied. "If this is right… then Angel Island had already been designed to float ages before my people even came into existence.

Tikal must have simply activated the island after eons of dormancy." Sonic paused to consider his words.

"But that doesn't make any sense." He ventured after a moment. "If Angel Island was designed and maybe even created here, in this universe than how did it end up on Mobius; another dimensional realm?"

Knuckles shook his head.

"I don't know." He admitted. "But this is mind blowing… this… this could rewrite history. The history of mobian and human alike."

Jet managed a sadistic grin.

"I knew my father wouldn't let me down."

Knuckles forced his face into a frown, before glancing off sharply to his side to an entrance to a side corridor leading out.

"Come on." He stated marching off. "I want to find out just who this Prometheus guy really is."

"No complaints here." Sonic muttered close behind. Jet managed a smirk before bringing up the rear. The corridor led them on for quite a distance and the further they walked the more Sonic had the sensation of being watched. At first it was a small, easily ignored feeling but it quickly grew stronger.

He could feel a pair of scrutinise eyes watching all of them, bearing their never blinking gaze down on the group.

While it wasn't a hostile surveillance, its intensity disturbed the hedgehog a little.

Suddenly the corridor ended and they emerged out onto an extremely high metal-stone ledge suspended over a very long drop to a canyon like floor below. The horizon of this strange digital dimension expanded out before them and standing there, defying explanation upon this horizon was a massive towering edifice so large that it made the outside of this place look tiny. While it was easy to see it was made of the same metal-stone as the rest of this place, it had the appearance of a tulip waiting to unfold. Three wing like shields curved around its spire, all interconnecting together to form one whole like petals.

It inter-fitted into the ground as its base three claw like hooks pinning it there and keeping the towering thing rigid.

"Let me guess." Sonic started, looking towards it with a half bemused look. "Angel Wing?"

Jet just nodded once.

"That's it alright." The hedgehog groaned and let his shoulders droop. Glancing down he noticed movement.

"Hey, it's Shadow!" He shouted loudly, pointing down towards the bottom of the canyon like ridge below that ran up all the way towards the Angel Wing tower from their ledge. A dark shape was darting up it towered the massive tower, leaving an after image of faint gold behind it.

"Shadow, STOP!" Sonic called out and the distant figure did indeed freeze. It stood still there watching them. It was too far away to tell what it was doing, but that became all too obvious when sparks of energy began to lance back and forth.

"Get down!" Knuckles declared throwing himself to the floor as the air seemed to be sucked out around them. Jet and Sonic hurled themselves down beside the Echidna as a Chaos Spear attack, amplified greatly by the power of six Chaos Emeralds, souring at them like an artillery shell, crashed into the wall above them sending fragments of charred metal raining down.

"I'll take that as a no thank you." Jet muttered, pushing the ash and hot pieces of metal off him.

Sonic vaulted back up to his feet. Now he was pissed. Shadow may have once been a close friend, but now he was really asking for it.

Without waiting to hear the other two, he grabbed them by the wrists and wordlessly began a Chaos Control.

All three of them vanished in the green flash as Sonic transported them across the distance, focusing in on the beacons that were the six chaos emeralds in Shadow's possession.

Before he could materialize, some other force intervened. Sonic felt his body and those travelling with him being pull away from their intended destination. The warp ended violently as they were thrown out of the transport to crash all at once into a wall.

"Jesus Christ, Sonic what sort of a ride was that?" Knuckles asked, brushing some of the dreadlocks out of his hair.

"It was that damn prophet of Jet's again." Sonic growled looking equally as annoyed. "Just how the hell did he interrupt a Chaos Control?"

"In this realm, I control all." A sharp voice stated clearly. All of them, hedgehog, echidna and hawk froze with wide eyes and expressionless faces. There was a short click and their new location lit up brightly, lights illuminating a long path suspended above a dark abyss below.

"If you control everything, then stop that other hedgehog from getting to Angel Wing!" Knuckles cried out.

"He is of little consequence to me." The voice replied but there was an undercurrent of reluctance in it that Sonic did not miss. "Now come, I have been expecting the three of you. There is business here to conclude." A short distance away at the far end of that thin suspended path, a doorway of some kind opened the wall.

Growling, Sonic raced up to it, now tired to playing these games. Stepping inside, the world seemed to warp and mould around him.

Transported away once more, the three of them now stood in the gloomy depths of some large hallway. Gigantic pillars stood the distance between the floor and the extremely high ceiling.

"This way." The voice continued and a light seemed to glow in the entrance to a side corridor halfway down the hall.

"Look I'm not in the mood for follow the leader." Sonic called out rushing over to the door in a burst of speed and flinging it open.

It lead to another corridor, a long winding tunnel that went on for quite some distance before emerging out into another hallways.

Was there no end to this place.

Coming to a stop, Sonic angrily looked up and shouted; "Where are you?!"

"Here." The voice stated and glancing sharply up, Sonic froze.

Standing there, watching them from a metallic platform was a man.

The figure was tall and humanoid, face and entire body hidden behind a dark cowl and a low flowing velvet robe, the outer edges finery embroidered with gold thread making elaborate patterns and decorations. The faintest outline of a jagged face could be made out him the darkness of the clock but no distinguishing features.

The figure stood there silent and still, as if completely static but radiating a immediate sense of presence, and undeniable superiority.

One look was enough to tell Sonic he stood before a being thousands, if not millions of years old.

"By my ancestors…" Jet began before he dropped to his knees as if he regarded him with reverence. "The great Poola the wise."

Sonic felt a smile slowly crossing his face.

Poola the wise, the great prophet of the falcons, also had another name.

"Prometheus." He started and the face of the strange figure turned to look at the blue eyes and Sonic could not help but shudder under the intense stare. Shaking the feeling on, Sonic started forward. "Hey, you!"

The figure raised his hand, revealing it to be thin with two larger fingers and a thumb. Attached to his palm like a glove was a device of some kind. A silver and gold, articulated machine with a pad directly in the centre. Pressing the pad with a single claw like finger, the figure wavered like the surface of water for an instant before disappearing completely.

Leaping up to the platform; darted along the corridor that lead away from it and came bursting out into a large spherical chamber.

Prometheus was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn it." He snapped and kicked the floor.

This room was unlike the others. It was round rather that perfectly square, with smooth pure marble surface rather than etched with Aztec style metal-stone. Apart from the entrance into the chamber itself the only other distinguishing landmark was the raised platform standing up from the centre floor.

Hovering in the centre of the room above the platform was a crystal of some kind. It was about the lengths of an arm and jagged like a dagger pointed down.

"What's this place?" Jet asked as he and Knuckles came up alongside him.

"Doesn't look like much." Sonic replied, walking into the chamber admitted. To him it seemed like nothing more than an empty space. He was still annoyed about all of this to keep his mind clear.

"It's already clear that there's more to this entire realm then meets the eye." Knuckles stated, running his hand across the smooth surface trying to deceiver it. As he worked, Sonic whistled the Transformers theme tune.

"Strangely… this chamber looks familiar." Jet mused, glancing around. "It feels as if I've seen it before someplace."

"While the grand tour is vastly amusing guys, wouldn't it be a better idea to search for either Prometheus or Shadow?" Sonic asked. "He could be at Angel Wing by now. I mean, I feel like we're wasting time here."

"Sonic, now would be a good time to learn some patience." The echidna replied.

"Yeah well, from the way Tails acted I'm willing to bet we don't have the time for patience." Sonic said, looking a little restless.

"Time… that is definitely the key word." A voice stated. Whipping around, the three of them turned as once to see that standing on the far side of the chamber as if he had always been there was the hooded figure. Still his clock and cowl it was impossible to see his face. Only his eyes stood out.

"Time, the flow of events from past to present to future; written destinies even for the smallest element, the end to which all are compelled. Destinies which are as unmovable as the moon and the sun and as undeniable." He raised his hand and the centre of the device between his fingers hummed.

"As I have stated, I have been expecting you for some time Iblis Trigger." He carried on, looking Sonic directly in the face. "You are the latest in a sparing line of catalysts, elements which influence intense change.

The last Iblis Trigger before you was Zeus, who saved everything that is from complete and utter destruction.

The great enemy… the real great enemy, started this line in hopes it would lead to its victory… but these catalysts need not necessarily be that.

Your destiny is unknown to you… and I have seen shades of possibility. They are great possibilities, some terribly evil and other good, but all of them great."

"Look pal, I don't give a flying whoha about destiny this and fate that." Sonic snapped clenching s fist. "I make my own destiny! I decide what happens in my life! That's not be predetermined."

"The future is written." Prometheus insisted quite sternly. "But if control over which one you take is what you require, then Solaris holds the key."

"What?" Sonic asked.

"Solaris… the royal bloodlines, passing down through them the means to open the gates of Nexus. That line is over in my decedent, the Seer Cosmo who was taken by Black Doom.

And the other, the bloodline of Zeus himself…" He paused. "I think you won't have much difficulty in finding out who that one is." The ancient titan raised his hand higher. "And now… the final piece of our business must be completed." The glow from the centre of his palm intensified.

The crystal above the pedestal glowed in response, before cracking in half down the centre; each half ticking away from each other like the hands of a clock swinging around to a six o clock position before moving on.

"Hey what is this?" Jet asked. As the crystalloid clock handles turned, the air seemed to warp as if in contact with intense heat.

"I want you to look Sonic…" Prometheus declared. "I want you to see the future… a future that may already be decided."

When both hands of the clock reached the mid night position, the space between them tore like tissue paper; folding in on itself to open a hole.

This dark circle of empty nothingness suspended in mid air was a gateway to a horrible vision. Through that gate Sonic could see a world in flames… a planet so ravaged by fire that any plant life had been burnt to a crisp. The oceans had boiled away and the sky was a permanent smoky grey. A city was in ruins; buildings either bombed or burnt out. Massive fissures ran through the city centre, half collapsed rubble making bridges between each side.

And then the unthinkable happened.

A massive hand, made completely out of fire and lava reached down through the clouds and sank its claw like talons deep into the earth. Its palm smashed against the side of that planet, burning away the curst and exposing the molten core. Cracking the entire planet like an egg, the massive fiery hand dragged the planet out of its orbit and up towards a colossal mouth.

With teeth made of fire and eyes burning like two suns, a beast of unequalled size and unequaled power crunched down, destroying the entire planet in a single motion.

The scene blurred as if it was skipping ahead to the next chapter of the story.

Again they were shown a world about to be destroyed by the same monstrous entity, its hands descending rapidly through the atmosphere towards the surface.

This was a world Jet recognized instantly when he saw the ruins of Babylon submerged in the desert sands.

"Hey that's Roc!" The hawk declared in horror.

Sonic blinked when he saw something running through the desert sands. The image the hole showed seemed to focus down on it and the figure was revealed to be a white hedgehog.

He looked no older than fifteen, or perhaps even younger. His fur was snow white and his body lean with thin arms and legs. He was clearly mobian.

The quills running down his back where fused just like Sonic's. He had two large curving fussed sets of quills jutting out the back of his head with another two out his back. On his forehead, the usual third cluster had been styled into a crest of some sorts with five small clusters all arranged back over his ears.

Like Shadow this young hedgehog also had thick white chest fur, only his was longer; so long in back that it was coming over his shoulders and down his back.

His eyes were flaxen yellow and portrayed a soul full of anger and pain.

One glimpse was enough to tell anyone that this kid was exhausted. He was panting as he ran and was covered in cuts, bruises and blood had matted his fur. He also had a slight limp.

Cursing loudly, he looked up as the massive hands of destruction began to close down on the planet. Quickening his pace despite a clear twisted ankle, the white hedgehog gradually made his way towards that appeared to be the Garden of Babylon; long since crashed into the ground and half buried with sand.

Reaching the massive iron door which had marked the entrance, the white hedgehog tried to open it himself with his hands but lacked the strength to yank them open.

Holding up his palm to the door, the white hedgehog let out a long held up breath.

A circle of blue glowed brightly on the back of his hand, before the iron door shook as if seized by an earthquake and tore itself out of the way exposing the way inside.

The planet shook as the gravitational effects of being so close to a monster of that size took effect. Parts of the planet were flaking off, drawn in by the massive mouth and sucked into oblivion; the teeth of which were starting to bite through the surface.

Finding the room in which they were presently standing, the white hedgehog ran at the crystal device holding out his hand towards it.

Just as the planet was crushed to pieces and then swallowed whole, the white hedgehog was engulfed by an alien light from within the time device and he vanished.

The window into the future however, did not.

"Seek our Solaris, Sonic the Hedgehog, for it will provide the answers you seek." Prometheus stated as sudden the window started glowing an intense white. "Everything else is, as of now, completely irrelevant."

There was a loud cracking sound as a solid object was hurled out of the rift, sparks of power trailing after it before it crashed to the floor.

"Hey that's…" Sonic started at the sight of the white hedgehog he had observed moments before, lying unconscious at his feet with blood slowly pooling around him.

"And now that this is concluded… goodbye and good luck." Before any of them could say anything, Prometheus waved his hand before them and all four, the white hedgehog included, vanished in a flash of light.

Thrown completely outside the sanctuary, they were all dropped violently onto the ground.

Amy was still trying to crack the doors open with her hammer when they arrived, collapsing into a pile.

"Sonic!" Both the pink hedgehog and Sera declared simultaneously.

"What the hell happened?" Miles demanded.

"Who's this kid?" Storm asked, looking down at the bloodied white hedgehog with confusion.

"Never mind, what happened in there? What about the Angel Wing?" Dark Oak demanded almost angrily.

Before anybody could answer, something like the crackle of thunder broke through the sky as another blinding white flash of light erupted out of nowhere.

Manifested from seemingly nothing, a shadow cast itself across the ground with the arrival of a tremendously large object.

"Er… yeah about that…" Sonic muttered with drooping ears.

The Angel Wing was unlike any ship in any current arsenal.

From a distance it looked like some bizarre Aztec ruin, but it was clear it was made from the same metal like stone within Prometheus' retreat. Shaped like a closed tulip with massive claws stretching out behind it, it rivaled the city of Babylon and the Garden combined in sheer size. It blocked out the sun completely, eclipsing the light and stood dominating.

"And now I call you forth!" Black Doom declared from within Nexus, with all three eyes widening. "The sword of my father and the key to the universe, make yourself known, Angel Wing!!"


	44. Episode 22, part 2

"Angel Wing…." Eggman growled. He was too late. Shadow had already gotten to it. There was only one thing he could do now. "Computer, change targeting trajectory." He announced and input the new coordinates for the Egg Carriers cannon. The crosshairs on the targeting display screen blipped on and off, moving from the Babylon Garden and up towards the colossal city sized Angel Wing which already was heading upwards towards space.

"Energy levels have reached maximum capacity." The static tone of the main computer announced as the outside of the cannon began to crackle with energy; an intense white light growing in strength within the weapon.

"Disengage final safety procedures, lockdown all inertial dampeners'." Eggman announced as his throne severed around and propped itself up, moving him into manual firing mode. To destroy something that large he was going to have to channel almost all of the Egg Carriers energy into this one attack. He was only going to have once chance at this.

Sonic growled, before back flipping back to his feet and vanishing into the midst of a Chaos Control.

Transporting himself up to the tip of the giant, Sonic emerged and as expected waiting for him was Shadow.

"Shadow, you know I'd really rather not fight you." The blue hedgehog stated. The dark hedgehog turned to face him. All seven Chaos emeralds were floating around him, augmenting his abilities. Sonic knew that with such an advantage, any fight between them was over before it started.

"I can imagine why." Shadow replied, gesturing with a toss of his head towards the emeralds.

"Whatever was promised, whatever was said; it was a lie!" Sonic snapped. "Black Doom won't give you whatever it is you wanted." The almost cherry smile left Shadow's face in an instant.

"Probably." He replied with a somber expression. "Which is why he doesn't lay a claw on these emeralds until I get what I want."

"And I thought, perhaps after what we went through against Eggman, Metal Sonic and Krish himself, that you knew better than that!" Sonic almost shouted.

Shadow vanished in a short flash and before Sonic could react, a super strong and fast punch connected with the blue hedgehog's stomach.

He gagged, saliva flying out of his mouth as the shockwave pasted through his body.

"It's a deal with the devil." Shadow whispered into his ear. "I'm aware of that… but the offered prize, it's simply too good to pass up."

The obvious was made clear to Sonic in that instant.

"Maria…" That was all Sonic got to say before Shadow held his open palm into his face.

The Chaos Spear exploded, hurling him off the edge of the Angel Wing and down towards the desert. Trailing smoke he smashed into the sand sending up clouds of dust.

"FIRE!" Pulling the trigger, Eggman unleashed all the pent up energy. It twisted, bending this way and that before firing directly up screaming as it went. Angel Wing made absolutely no attempt to get out of the way or take any evasive manoeuvres whatsoever.

The energy blast coursed up and was within striking distance when some invisible force of tremendous rebuffing power. Like some super version of the Egg shield, the barrier held fire even under such a tremendous attack. Unable to keep the intensity of the blast up, the Egg Carriers cannon fizzled and burst out; the stream of energy grew thin before disappearing altogether.

"It stood a direct attack?" Dark Oak gasped in amazement.

"That's phenomenal." Miles nearly gagged taking a few steps back. "How are we supposed to destroy something like that?"

"I don't think we are." The general replied solemnly.

Watching the events unfold outside his sanctuary, Prometheus put on a concerned face. Events had begun, just as he had foreseen and all too soon the final stage would be set. He knew it… Black Doom knew it… and of course…

"And so you have made your opening gambit." A voice stated. Prometheus slowly turned to face the still open time vortex. Another figure had emerged; the one he had been expected.

It was another hedgehog. This one was unlike the others. It was dark with navy blue fur and crystal like rock along the outside of its long upturned fused quills, its ears and arms. The joints at the knees and elbows were almost completely crystal, all the embedded rock in its body giving off a soft pale blue glow. Its muzzle was a paler blue and a spread patch of white fur stood out on its chest; styled like the wings of a bird of prey.

But its eyes were the worst of all, entirely blood shoot with pale green irises. Power, undeniable and unquestionable power radiated away from him. Parts of the floor around him where peeling back as if unable to maintain their form in his presence.

"As, I take it have you?" Prometheus asked, putting on the façade that he wasn't even slightly intimidated.

"Regardless of the fact this game is utterly pointless; I will see it through to its completion." The new hedgehog stated. "The Black Doom will succeed and Ragnarok will happen. I will make that a certainty." A cruel smile spread itself across that unquestionably evil hedgehog's face. "So… are you going to do the honours or do I find the exit myself?"

Prometheus turned to face the new comer completely.

"You are a subtle and clever planner, intelligent and strategic." He stated looking him firmly in the eye. "But you have a weakness, Mephiles, a weakness that I am utterly certain will be your undoing and**_ his_** salvation."

"Oh?" The crystalline hedgehog asked. "And what weakness is that?"

Something resembling a smile appeared behind the dark folds of Prometheus' cowl.

"Your Hubris." He stated, before raising the device on his hand and clicking it. The crystalline hedgehog was engulfed by an orb of bright light for a single instant before he was transported away.

* * *

The call had been issued and now all Fesonians's loyal to Admiral Baal's cause were rallying to his uprising.

The resistance movement had spread deep within the Confederation's space fleet and backed by Doctor Eggman's robots it swiftly gained a strong footing.

The Fesonian high command couldn't control its soldiers in the chaos and swiftly, an army capable of fighting off the Confederation's invasion force was assembling at the Egg Factory.

The massive flying fortress in orbit around a gas-giant planet, twice the size of any large city on earth; was surrounded by spaceships. Most of them were from Admiral Baal's fleet but now that the Egg Factory was in full swing, it was manufacturing its own ships. A vessel at a time, The Egg Fleet was being reborn.

Several days had past since the incident on Roc, with the revealing of the Babylon Garden and its sudden disappearance. What was more shocking were the sightings of the massive anomaly, the Angel Wing which was moving from space to some unknown destination completely impervious to attack by any fleet.

"We're operating at maximum power as it is." Becoe reported to the Doctor check on the progress report. Currently they had five hundred completed and fully manned Egg Fleet ships waiting in defense of the Egg Factory but, expecting a sizeable force to threaten them, The Doctor demanded more. "We've almost run out of the resources that the Confederation stopped shipping us."

"I thought the plan was to wait until the Dooms Eye had distributed our Marionettes to all Confederation plates and we had the Chaos Emeralds?" Decoe asked.

"The situation has changed boys… we have to move now. "The Doctor stated cryptically in reply. "Chaos Emeralds or not, the Confederation has to fall now."

Without warning a loud blaring alarm went off nearby.

"Doctor, we have a fleet coming out of a jump along our left flank." Decoe suddenly announced.

"Confederates?"

"No sir… I'm reading Com-Fed and Falcon Admiralty signals."

Space bent like folding paper further along the planet's orbit and out of the warp came another fleet. Eggman watched it approach; recognizing half their number as being the Com-Fed's pride and joy, the Predator class attack vessels. The other ships were small but longer, shaped like old fashioned galleys with sails that soaked up solar energy. Their bore the mark of the Falcon Admiralty and were their navy's finest ships, the Scourges.

"We're being hailed." Becoe stated as a holographic image appeared before him. The face staring back at him was of a mobian bat with chestnut brown fur, flaxen yellow eyes and sharp fangs protruding slightly over the bottom lip.

"Wait a minute, I know you!" Eggman declared jabbing a finger forward. "I saw you with Sonic before!"

"This is Commander Koji Naoko Okida of the Coalition Fleet." The Mobian announced. "We are here to take you into custody, Doctor Eggman, for war crimes against the Combine Federation, Falcon Admiralty and the independent planetary nation of Earth. Your Confederate fleet with be destroyed here and now."

"Oh really?" The Doctor asked, reaching around and pressing a button on the side of his chair. "Perhaps you should watch this."

Okida blinked as a video feed was rerouted through the communications link. The feed was live and it showed that on various planets, Doctor Eggman's Mechs were actually attacking the Confederation's garrison forces.

Unable to defend themselves from attacks of that magnitude, especially from within, dozens of planets were being torn away from the Dooms Eye's rule.

"What you are seeing is the result of thousands of years of dictatorship and tyranny." A voice announced over the video, but it was not that of the Doctor. "Even as I speak, our forces are in rebellion throughout the entire Confederation controlled space and are leaving the path open for the advance of the Combine Federation forces."

The various scenes of destruction disappeared and a Fesonian appeared on screen. He as clad in the grab of an admiral, with an Imperial sash draped across one shoulder.

"I am Admiral Baal, leader of the now liberated Fesonian Imperial Guard.

We strive to make Feson a true Imperial state, as it was before the Dooms Eye crushed our culture into dust and turned our once respected race into a legion of pirates. A state where the rulers were there for the people; where the people had the power and the leaders were their servants.

Regardless of whether other factions consider us friend or foe, we now formally declare war on the current Emperor and his totalitarian regime.

We call on all free thinking Fesonian's and even those races we subjugated in the Confederation's name, to rise up with us for a chance at victory and freedom."

Okida stood there with an intently puzzled expression his face as the broadcast ended. Just what was Eggman doing now?

"Great speech, Emperor Baal." Eggman stated, clapping at the Admiral trudged into the Egg Factories control room.

He had delivered the speech in one of the lower chamber and it had been relayed through the various communication networks of several factions to beam to most planets in the known galaxy. Undoubtedly most worlds under Confederation rule would have heard it.

"I'm not an Emperor."

"Not yet."

"Should we contact them for a response?" Baal asked directing their attention back to the Coalition fleet. Eggman shook his head with a short grin.

"No. Let them puzzle over it for a little while."

"Doctor, another fleet is coming out of a jump. Confederation signals this time!" Decoe suddenly yelled and Egg looked up as another warp field opened and dozens of ships started moving out. There were hundreds of small fighters and quite a lot of battleships but their fleet's flagship was what instantly grabbed their attention.

"He's here." Baal muttered with fresh sweat running down the sides of his face. "Doom's eye."

The flagship of this new invasion force was the Hades.

A massive construction that rivaled the Egg Factory itself in sheer size. This was the price vessel that the empire had been working on since the invasion of Com-Fed space began.

Named after the god of the underworld, this vessel was shaped like a Ymir but on a much larger scale. The large side wings were much longer in both width and length and there were many more thrusters at the back. It's underside was a sea of turrets and blinking lights and directly on the front it bore the mark of the Confederation; the All seeing eye that was their leader.

Onboard was the Emperor himself. The Dooms Eye.

The ship was flanked by hundreds of smaller Confederation attack class vessels and even a Ymir. This was an attack force assembled specifically for the annihilation of the rebels, that much was obvious from a single look at it.

At least, Baal thought to himself, they had caused enough of an irritation in provoking the Emperor himself into leaving Feson.

"Sir, what do we do?" One of Okida's officers asked as the massive fleet approached, the looming size of the Hades blocking out the light from the solar system's sun.

"Hold station." Okida replied without taking his eyes off the sheer size of the Confederation's flagship.

"Right on schedule." Doctor Eggman began with a small grin as the enemy fleet moved into attack position in front of the Egg Factory. "Decoe, is the sub space connection ready?"

"All set doctor." The robot replied with a salute.

"Open a channel to his 'Imperial Majesty', start the broadcast as soon as he replies. Let our Com-Fed friend over there watch as well." The Doctor sat himself down in his command chair as the large screen for ship to ship communication descended from the ceiling. "Don't worry Baal old boy; I know what I'm doing."

The Fesonian admiral did not look that assured.

There was a brief moment of static before the image of a large eye appeared on screen. This image appeared on the front screens on the coalition fleet and through them, back to planets in the Combined Federation, the Falcon Admiralty and the Kingdom of Merchants.

People all over the spiral arm looked confused as the image appeared on screens over public places, in military starships and even the voice seeming out over a few loudspeakers.

"Hey what the hell is this?" Hare demanded as the rabbit, Bean, Bark and a few others gathered around one of the monitors on the Blue Typhoon's bridge.

"Eggman, you are a traitorous lump of fat." The anger was clear in the way the large eye seemed to shake, the pupil narrowing to a near silt. "I gave you power, prestige, resources and this is how you repay my trust? By siding with rebels and upstarts?"

The doctor grinned.

The Doom's Eye didn't realize that simply by answering the communications he had fallen into Eggman's trap.

"The power and resources I thank you for… but as I'm sure a being of your malevolent intelligence should have guessed, I'm hardly trustworthy." The eye turned a very sharp shade of orange almost to the point of red. "I'd also like to thank you for distrusting my Marionette's throughout your territory. Even as we speak they're cutting through your empire like a hot knife through butter."

The smile left Eggman's face.

"And I'd also like to thank you for the priceless opportunity to step back and look at myself and my dreams from the outside.

Thanks to you, I realize what I fool I've been."

"What?" The Dooms eye demanded.

"When I was a small boy… I found myself in a world full of warring tribes and clans of Mobians who clashed relentlessly in a bid for dominance. My dream was to unite them all under one banner, one Empire to bring peace to all, a golden utopia.

But somewhere along the way I lost sight of that vision and became interested only in power and attaining it by any means necessary.

I became the very thing I wanted to fight against and I didn't realize it until I saw the methods your empire's uses sustain its dominance; the empire I in my foolishness had sided with."

Doctor Eggman's two hencebots Decoe and Becoe sat there in their control seats staring at him, hardly believing what was coming out of their creator's mouth. Was this really was the same man who had built them?

"But my soul is not damned just yet. I still have a chance at redemption by opposing the evil you represent."

The starfish like creature let the eyelid of its single eye slid down halfway.

"I represent no evil Doctor… only the uniformity you set out to enforce." The Doctor stood up sharply and jabbed a finger forward.

"That is where you are wrong." He said coldly. "I know the truth now. I know what you really are and believe me I'm nothing like you!"

"What are you saying Doctor?" Baal asked stepping forward.

"What I'm saying… is that the Dooms Eye, the REAL Dooms Eye, has been dead for quite some time." Eggman replied without taking his eyes off the screen. "What you see before you is nothing more than an empty husk, a dead body animated by the will of another."

The Dooms Eye let off a low growl.

"What!?" Baal gasped with wide eyes.

"I don't need this anymore." Eggman stated, reaching up and removing his pilot helmet; letting the thing drop to the floor beside him. "He can't really read minds. The ability to coordinate the fleets of the Confederation is the limit of his psychic powers. He can't tear anyone apart using telekinesis or sense the thoughts of an entire world like that propaganda his empire's being spouted tells us."

"But I saw him!" Baal protested. "I saw him absorb the knowledge out of captured enemy scientists." Eggman shook his head.

"That's nothing a machine can't do. I've built a few machines like that myself. Everything else is merely smoke screens and mirrors, an elaborate show meant to enforce the story of his invincibility." The doctor jabbed a finger forward.

"In reality, this starfish doesn't even have a mind.

Now I address our REAL enemy, the hand moving the puppet, the demon trapped in the bowls of Nexus."

At the mention of the word Nexus hundreds of people on different planets shrank back in alarm. Nexus was a place their different religions and faiths spoke off in earnest as being a dark place where ultimate evil resides.

"Who told you?" Dooms Eye demanded.

"Irrelevant." Eggman replied. "What I want to know is… are you going to continue this façade, or are you going to start telling the truth for once…" He leaned forward and a large smile spread over his lips. "Black Doom?"

Some of the colour seemed to disappear from Baal's face. His eyes widened as he stood there in stunned silence.

The Dooms Eye began laughing, a low chuckle at first before bellowing out into a full blown laugh.

"Oh, you think yourself a clever one don't you?" He asked. "The little doctor and his machines… working to take power with some rational he thought up." The eye widened a little.

"But you are little more than a pawn who has already played its part." The Dooms Eye chuckled for a moment.

"I knew I could count of you to help crack open Prometheus' retreat; thus weakening the dimensional barriers, which is why I gave you the tournament assignment in the first place.

Sonic.

The Babylon Rogues.

Yourself… all have played their parts flawlessly.

Thanks to you especially Doctor, the first phase of the Ritual of Prosperity has been completed.

The first winter comes to an end."

Eggman stood up.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You are quite correct Doctor… the time has come to reveal the true glory that drives this pitiful empire.

The being I blessed by adopting as one of my son is long since dead and I could not let the empire he symbolized go to waste.

My name… my true name…is Black Doom!"

The eye lids pulled back until nearly half the eye itself was exposed and it started emitting a projecting light that manifested into a form that floated in the air before them.

For the first time in eons, the visage was Black Doom was beheld by the galaxy. A demon with three eyes, and crop of horns on top of his head and two long spikes either side.

To the Fesonians he was a god, the chief deity of their pantheon.

To the worshippers of Zeus he was a devil and the origin of the evil in this galaxy.

To the servants of Odin he was the hail bringer, the dark dragon that would burn the skies before the final battle on the day of Ragnarok.

Wherever his image was observed, the reactions were cataclysmic.

"My god." Okida hissed through clenched teeth.

"Black Doom?" Amy repeated watching it in a mixture of awe and horror.

This was the demon the Order of Thunder feared so much? Had he really been behind the Confederation's actions as well?

"So… Dark Oak was right." Eggman started and he stood up sharply. "Attention Fesonian Imperial Guard; pay no heed to this image. Demon or god, this is still the same being that enslaves your race and enforces terror on countless planets.

Do not be deceived by his parlor tricks now."

"Attention all fleets, advance!" Black Doom announced, spreading out a claw and pointing forward towards the Egg Factory. "I, your god and Emperor, command it! Destroy the traitors!"

"As you order divinity." The captain of the Fleet's flagship replied, his eyes glowing blood red along with the shell like mark on his arm. He was not along, the entire crew of the ship and many others in the Confederation fleet bore the same insignia; marking them as willing servants of Black Doom.

The icon of the Confederation on the front of each ship wavered, as if caught in rising heat; before it was replaced by the insignia of Black Doom; the shell shaped jagged mark.

Throughout the entire empire of the Confederation, the mark of the eye changed to the jagged shell and the Confederate's true allegiance was shown. Officers baring the mark on their arms held them proudly before their soldiers, who cheered in adoration.

Prime Minister Doran, second in command of the Doom's Eye; gasped and staggered back as armed Fesonian's broke into his office; baring the mark of Black Doom on their arms.

It did not take them long and within minutes the Confederation was now Black Doom's personal army.

"All ships, form up in defensive formation!" Okida called back to those of the Com-Fed fleet following behind him. As the ships neared the point where they could clash, Black Doom looked upon this spectacle and all three eyes glowed brightly in anticipation.

"And thus begins the second winter. The winter of wolves."

* * *

(In Chris Voice)

His name is Silver.

From a distant time in the future he has traveled, with the hope of killing the Iblis Trigger before it ignites the Flames of Disaster and brings about the apocalypse for all realties.

Now Sonic must defend himself against this fanatical assassin while discovering the truth about the Black Doom, Solaris and the deadly plot to enslave the universe.

Shadow players converge around him. The mysterious Mephiles and the maniacal Black Doom all cast in their lot as events take a far darker turn.

Shadow stands before the gates of Nexus next time on Sonic X; the Silver Saga.

Don't miss it!!

* * *

Authors notes:

Ok, the Rider's adaptation was about the longest Saga I've ever done. Total count a whole 16 eps!!! I wanted to give it some love, as the Babylon Garden fitted into my story quite well.

Ok people… you wanted Silver you got Silver. The plot for the Next gen stuff in combine wars will be as near to the game as possible, but will have my own personal spin on things as it happens in the exact same time as the shadow game plot and the

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**Titans, Gaia, Prometheus, Cronos and Rhea**: Mythological reference. Well sue me… Sega started it with their Iblis Trigger thing! How many other mythology references besides the Greek can you spot?

**Blaze, Lumina and Void**: Since Blaze appears in Sonic nextgen, she'll have a larger part to play as well. As for Void, well he gets some attention as well as he unravels the mystery behind the Black Doom.

**Elise: **Yes, I know she's a baby right now and in Sonic nextgen, she's at least in her teens, but bare with me on this I know what I'm doing. (Yes, I'm aware that now she can't have been used to stop the Flames of Disaster when she was a girl but I'm cutting that out to put in something far more sinister. )

**Falcon Admiralty: **A round of applause for those who guessed what they were based off… yes you got it, the Battle Bird Armada from Tails Adventure.

**Miracle Planet: **What does Black Doom need it for? What is the purpose of the mysterious gate being constructed on its surface? Ah… you just wait and see… yes I am evil

**Why is Prometheus' and the Titan's connection to Angel Island?: **Again, that's my little secret.


	45. Episode 23, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

**The Silver Saga**

Episode 23: The time displaced refugee

* * *

Chaos was engulfing planets across the galaxy. Where the battles fought between the Confederation and the Fesonian Imperial guard did not go, riots sprung up. Fear and mayhem engulfed entire cities and communities, spreading like a horrible plague. Churches and temples were packed with crowds of people; most simply seeking refuge and a few praying at the alters for their gods to answer them.

The establishment tried to maintain order and even fired on its own scared population to achieve those ends but nothing seemed able to curb the riots, not even with their leaders declared martial law.

Curfews, riot police and various other means at crowd control were completely ignored. Any measure of control enacted was overridden as if it didn't even exist.

Fear and panic were everywhere.

The simple act of exposing the existence of the Black Doom had rendered people's minds completely full of terror. He was their polar opposite enemy, the spectre of evil within which way the founding of every Satan myth.

Just a few reports of the chaos were coming in over the Blue Typhoon's communications chatter. Milford couldn't believe the sheer about of it. Planet after planet after planet were succumbing to panic and fear. Fear strewn by Eggman's broadcast, hijacked by Black Doom to fill the hearts and minds of the people with abject terror.

After the Babylon Garden incident, as it was now being called, any and all foreign ships had been chased off of Roc by the Battle Bird Armada. Luckily the Typhoon had managed to avoid being hit and was now on a course away from the Falcon's home world.

Its destination was the home of the reptilian race, a planet on the border between Combined Federation and Falcon Admiralty. The planet Hydra. It was there that Dark Oak claimed he had hidden the last Chaos Emeralds. Now that Shadow had six of them, they had to get to it before he did.

Dark Oak had left them, flying on ahead after his armour had been repaired. A few hours ago he had sent a signal saying that he had recovered the Emerald he hid there and he would defend it until their arrival.

"Our ship in ruin, our status gone and now we're wanted by our own government." Wave snapped, pacing the length of a cargo hold. The vessel belonging to the Babylon Rouges had been damaged and was now sitting in the Typhoon's cargo hold. Storm and a few of the technicians under Milford's command were attending to it.

Jet was sitting on one of the crates with his arms behind his back with half closed eyes, staring up at the ceiling.

"Are you listening to me Jet?" Wave asked of him angrily but still the hawk ignored her. "Our organisation is in the gutter right now!"

"Yeah, yeah." He muttered, rolling over so he had his back to her. "I know, but what can we do about it now huh?" Wave gave off a low growl, clenching her fists at either side.

"Argh, how is it biological possibly for any organism to be this annoying?!" As she marched off in sheer annoyance, Jet shot a glance back over his shoulder managing sly grin.

A new, self appointed, addition to their group was Piranha. Fixated with the notion that Sonic and his friends were at the centre of some fiendish conspiracy he was pouring over all the old records and books in his collection trying to discover anything he could considering Solaris. Prometheus had told Sonic that the answers to all of this and a measure of defeating their new enemy lay within this mysterious thing.

Piranha had said that Solaris was a top secret project carried out by the Order of Thunder with financial and technological backing by the Fenrir royal family and the Combined Federation, although he did not know the details of the project nor its purpose.

He was looking into it, using his contacts as a journalist to acquire information.

Sonic had spent a lot of time in contemplation. This was something he rarely did as the circumstances he often found himself in did not require it. This however was an acceptation. Now Sonic was forced to think long and hard about the words of Prometheus and Gaia and their cryptic meanings.

Shadow wanted Maria back… did the Black Doom really have that kind of power?

All of this… Eggman, Shadow, Black Doom, Angel Wing… none of it made sense in his mind. How was it all connected? What purpose did it all serve? It was maddening not to know the answer.

And on top of that, Sonic now had the new mystery man on his hands.

Laying in one of the beds in the Typhoon infirmary was the mysterious white hedgehog who Prometheus had summoned; at least it appeared, from the future.

He'd arrived unconscious and had been that way ever since he got there.

Sonic had no idea who he was; where he was from or how he got in such terrible shape yet being the soft hearted person he was heart, Sonic had immediately taken him to be looked at the Medic belonging to Milford's regiment.

"Its nothing short of a miracle this boy is still alive." The human told Sonic. The hedgehog was indeed a boy, at least fifteen or seventeen at most. He was covered in bruises, some so discoloured they stood out underneath his white fur. Bandages had been tied around the wounds across his arms and legs where large cuts or wounds had been. Some blood was still seeping through.

Tubes had been connected to his nose and a breathing apparatus was helping him.

"I'm a field medic; I've seen all kinds of wounds you can get on the battlefield." The medic carried on. "But what was done to this kid is nothing short of barbaric." He gestured to the many bandages and patched areas. "He has broken bones, a collapsed lung and extensive blood loss.

I don't want to jinx it but I think the only thing keeping him alive at this point is a steadfast will to live."

Sonic looked the kid over himself. Having been a few scraps before as well, the blue hedgehog was a pretty descent judge of healing factors. Mobians healed faster than human beings and they could recover fully from far more severe wounds. Whoever did a number on this kid had really gone all out.

It would definitely be a while before this guy was going anywhere.

"What I'm really concerned about at the moment are his brainwaves." The medic added. Sonic glanced up with a confused expression on his face.

The medic attached some electrodes to the white hedgehog's forehead and flipped a switch on a nearby piece of machinery. A neon green line appeared on the small monitor, moving jaggedly up and down in accordance with the sparks of electricity that passed over the brain.

"I'm no doctor, but that looks pretty ordinary to me." Sonic commented.

"Wait for it…" The medic replied, keeping his eyes on the screen.

A moment passed and at the end of that moment, movement could be seen behind the white hedgehogs closed eyes before the jagged line jumped widely spiking to the top of the screen; making impossible leaps back as forth as if it were showed the efforts of five minds all at once.

"Jesus!" Sonic exclaimed blinking a few times in alarm.

"See?" The medic asked. "For anybody, especially those in a near coma, those kind of brainwaves are impossible."

"Well what dose it mean that he has them?"

The medic shrugged.

"Just how the hell should I know? You mobians are a complete medical mystery. It isn't scientifically possibly to heal that fast, but you do it anyway." He walked away, muttering something about expertise and lack of experience or something to that effect. Sonic slumped his shoulders, pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards leaning over the back.

"Hey there, so what's your story huh?" He asked. The white hedgehog did not answer. He simply lay there with his mouth partly open breathing in softly. A human wouldn't have had such a good time with a collapsed lung but that mobian healing factor was playing its hand again. He didn't seem to have any trouble breathing. Give it a few more hours and they could take him off the respirator.

"Wouldn't mind hearing it later on." Sonic muttered but the white hedgehog didn't move.

There was a short coughing noise from behind him and glancing back, Sonic noticed Amy leaning against the door frame.

"Still out is he?" She asked.

"Yeah." Sonic sighed in reply. "Kid must have been hit pretty hard by whatever." He yawned before standing up. "So, what's new?" Amy just smiled grimly.

"We've got visitors."

Sonic simply had to cringe at the sight of Void when the two hedgehog's arrived on the bridge. The small imp like being was staring directly at him with the most hostile glare imaginable, as if he was blaming Sonic for all the universes ills.

Companying him here were two others, both of which were recognised friends. One was the Queen Illumina agent, Lumina Flowlight while the other was the feline Blaze, the leader of the felines from had gone into self imposed exile after her people had been forced to evacuate the place.

"Oh er… hi…" he paused, before looking over at Void's companies. "Blaze." The feline just smiled at him with a flat expression, folding her arms in front of herself.

"Sonic, about two days ago our early warning system detected an extremely powerful shockwave passing through the dimensional realms." Void started, cutting in before Sonic could chance the subject of the conversation before it started. "That same shockwave has levelled departments across Maginaryworld and weakened the dimensional barriers so much that incursions from various other dimensions are crisscrossing the realms."

He moved close, violating Sonic's personal space.

"Our people are stretched to the breaking point trying to cover it all. On top of that, I've spent over two years trying to make heads or tails out of the business on Fellena and I've not gotten any closer.

So why should it surprise me to find that the shockwave originated from this dimension?"

Sonic held up his hands defensively.

"Whoa dude, chill out man or you're going to burst a blood vessel." He told him.

"This is the fourth time something like this has happened, not just to your dimension but to your specific group." Void reminded him, the side of his left eyes gaining a nervous twitch. "I'm going to sort this one out too, but this going to be the very last time!" He flung her face so far forward he was nearing head butting the hedgehog. "Now, tell just what the hell is going on!!!" Sonic tried to reply but only managed the stutter.

"I can explain that." A voice declared. Both Sonic and Void turned to face the speaker as he emerged out of the side door.

His over two year absence had changed him. His fur was slightly darker. He was taller and had a great deal more muscle on him than before. But it was unmistakably the fox Void had seen disappear, along with Cosmo into a warp transit.

"Tails?" Lumina asked looking alarmed.

"Until I say otherwise, the name is Miles." The fox told them all sharply. "I don't deserve the name Tails… I failed."

"Failed? "Void repeated. "Failed what? I've had enough of these damn games, tell me what the hell is going on!"

The fox made a made.

"Alright." He replied after a pause. "But not here. Take me to Queen Illumina." All three of the visitors looked stunned for a moment, before they looked at each other with confused expressions. "Yeah you heard me." Miles added. "I want to talk to her. If you take me to see your queen I'll tell you everything you need to know about the Black Doom."

"Black Doom?!" Void and Lumina nearly yelled both at once. Blaze just raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Well?" Miles asked. Void looked slightly panicked.

"Oh alright. I'll take you." He ended up blurting. "This is already getting weird; why not take the whole way?" He went on ranting for a while, clearly annoyed and frustrated.

"I'd like you to come with me." Miles said, turning to Sonic.

"I was coming whether you wanted me to or not." The blue hedgehog replied with a large smirk. "This should make one good story." The fox's face adopted a sullen expression. His eyes were filled with melancholy and there was an odd detachment to him.

"No Sonic, believe me it won't."

* * *

--

The flames tore around her body, stripping away her clothes, then her fur and finally her flesh leaving only a ragged skeleton before that too was reduced to ashes. Her dying screams echoing sharply like a knife on the winds.

"NO!" The hedgehog cried out, running forward in a futile attempt to save her before she vanished into oblivion. Her murderer stood over the pile of blackened dust, a sick grin over his face. The like of sadistic pleasure more than clear in his blood shot eyes.

"You're next." He laughed as four fiery hands reached down out of the void and snapped the very ground upon which they stood like a twig.

Crying out in terror, Silver sat sharply up in his head; his eyes wide and mouth agape. A cold sweat was running down both sides of his face and his hands were rigidly gripping the sheets.

Dozens of surgical objects were hovering around the room, held rigid by his mind; floating in mid air. It was only when Silver calmed down that they clattered to the floor.

The white hedgehog just sat there breathing hard without blinking. Terror and fear still gripped his mind and it took a few moments for him to regain control. Emotion was a powerful aspect and it had overridden all the controls he had placed around himself. It took a while to put those controls back but once they were secure, Silver let out one final sigh before leaning back into the pillows.

"Agh, just a bad dream." He muttered to himself, putting a hand on his face. He was still shaking a little bit. That dream had been so real it was almost like he had been reliving that terrible moment.

"Just a bad dream." He kept repeating to himself. "Just a bad dream." His body felt sore to the touch. He still hadn't healed from yet from the battle.

Suddenly his eyes went side and he sat up in bed. Memories had come flooding back and in a flash he recalled exactly what had transpired before.

He stared around the room he was in, gazing at it in a mute mixture of awe and stunned confusion.

Finally he was made away of the intruding sensation in his nose.

"What the…" He started, seizing the ventilating tubes. With an angry grunt he pulled them out. A moment later he gagged forward, coughing up a short amount of blood. "Damn…" He hissed, whipping his mouth with the back of his hand. The electrodes over his body were quickly removed and the white hedgehog pulled himself out of bed.

The strength left in his legs was barely enough to keep him up right but despite this Silver carried on, moving off the bed and across the room towards a mirror. He paused there to judge his reflection. He'd suffered a few cuts and bruises but all the manor wounds had been bandaged up.

Did that mean that he'd succeeded? Had the ancient time travelling device actually worked? It was implausible to hope that it had, but Silver grabbed a hold of that hope and refused to let go. Suddenly noticing a window in the room, the white hedgehog rushed over and stared outside.

In that instant he beheld a sea of stars that seemed to go on forever. An unending sea of creation untouched and unsoiled.

A universe upon which Iblis had not yet fed.

Silver just froze; eyes wide in utter amazement.

"It… it actually worked." He gasped, taking a few steps back before falling down onto his backside.

Always Silver's luck had turned sour. Every time he risked something, that something would vanish. It became such a certainty in his life that he had stopped tasking risk entirely.

With nothing else to loose he had risked his own life for this lone gambit, fully expecting it to fail like all the others. Yet finally fate had smiled on him.

A smile slowly started moving across the white hedgehog's face. He started chuckling before finally he broke into a fully fledged laugh, letting his head roll back. He simply couldn't stop himself. It was as if it were an instinctive reaction. Silver simply had to laugh.

"YES!!" He declared between laughs. He'd done it. He'd actually done it! Against everything, the odds, laws of physics and probability, he'd travelled back in time.

Suddenly a depressing thought struck him.

Exactly how far had he been sent back? Was he decades into the past? Centuries? Eons?

There hadn't been any way to set the ancient device to a certain time. Silver had been relying on his ill-fated luck to get him where he needed to go. Iblis hadn't allowed him any time to study the controlling mechanism.

What if he'd gone back too far?

A loud growling from the pit of Silver's stomach interrupted his thoughts. It had been days since he'd had a decent meal.

"Well, first things first." He told himself as he pushed himself back up. "Time to eat." Silver was used to small meals and eating anything he could get his hands on. Choice wasn't a luxury he was used to so he wasn't overtly picky.

There didn't seem to be anything edible here. Well, there were medicines and such in jars and other containers but Silver wasn't dumb enough to try and eat them. Suddenly he sniffed catching a faint scent in the air. It had been some time since he'd smelt that and even so it was unmistakable.

It was the smell of cooking meat.

"Man, this is my lucky day." He almost giggled, going to the door only to find it locked.

Locked doors were merely an inconvenience to Silver. He simply pointed a finger at it instantly he could sense the complex mechanism within the lock. A simple nudge using telekinesis was all it took to move the metallic pieces so the door unlocked itself and swung open.

Already determining he was on a ship of some kind, Silver tried in vain to determine its make and size. The view from the windows along the corridor didn't give much in the way of a view of the overall vessel.

Before he could contemplate the mystery more, the luring siren that was the smell of cooking food pulled him away.

Strangely, none of the people he past by seemed to notice him. It was as if he was invisible or something. Most appeared human but there were also a sizable mobian population here as well.

"By Odin, this is just too creepy." Silver muttered to himself. It was strange seeing so much life here. Life without fear, were people weren't constantly sitting besides their radio's waiting to hear about which planet Iblis had destroyed next.

The white hedgehog's nose led him on and on until finally he reached a large set of double doors with a sign above it marked 'cafeteria'.

Silver pushed his way inside, finding a large room with many sets of tables. It was mostly empty. Only a few people were sitting by the far end and they didn't really notice the white hedgehog as he made his way to the serving station.

A mobian was working in the kitchen just beyond. He was a purple weasel with a kink in his long tail and a white apron. He had his back to him as he worked at the stove so he didn't notice Silver at the barrier.

The while hedgehog held up his left hand and clicked his fingers. The blue rings on both the outside of his hands and on his palms glowed brightly as a piece of meat tore itself off the bone and hovered towards him.

Silver didn't even bother with a knife and fork. He simply tore at it with his teeth, shredding the meat like a starving animal.

Silver never really had the opportunity to learn table manners.

"Hey, hey, hey, HEY!" The weasel said, finally noticing him. "I'm not done cooking that meat!" Silver ignored him and kept eating. "Look fella, I'm telling you to get your hands off that!" Still the white hedgehog kept on taking his fill.

The weasel did not look at all pleased. He reached for a ladle.

"Sorry, but I haven't had a good meal for years." Silver stated, almost while he was still eating. The weasel paused. "This is the best food I've ever had."

"Oh really?" The weasel asked. "Finally, somebody who appreciates my cooking!" At this point, Silver became the Weasel's full centre of attention.

The white hedgehog was shown to a table and allowed to keep his appetizer while he was brought a large menu.

"Everything!" Silver declared without even looking at it. "Bring me everything!"

"Everything?" The weasel repeated looking a little stunned. "Every starter, every main course, every soup, every desert?" The white hedgehog nodded in reply.

"All the food you can bring!"

The gigantic meal consisted soups first, all the flavours on the menu one after the other. Silver wolfed them down still crying for more.

Then came the main courses. There was beef, pork, lam, and chicken all with roasted vegetables on the side. Grilled fish with melted butter and a side serving of French fries came next, followed by rice dishes of four different kinds.

As time past and more and more people started wandering into the cafeteria, Silver gained quite an audience. Nobody could figure out where the white hedgehog was putting all this food.

Stacks of plates from finished courses were piled high on either side and still he kept eating like a ravenous animal. Most of them were egging him on, daring Silver to see how much he could eat before exploding. Some were even placing bets.

"That's unbelievable." Milford was muttering over and over again.

"My, my that's certainly a healthy appetite." Rouge said with a grin.

"Meow… this is unheard of." Sera added wit her large cat like ears drooping.

"Chug, chug, chug!" Hare and Bean were repeating over and over as Silver took a very long drink and didn't show any signs of stopping.

"How much as he had?" Bark asked, looking back at Nack who was cooking like crazy in the kitchen.

"I lost count at ten dishes." The weasel replied but he still had a smile on his face. "I can barely make the food fast enough."

The spectacle continued for another ten minutes and just when it looked like the table might collapse under the weight of all the empty plates, Silver finally stopped and leaned back in his chair.

There was a moment of silence before the white hedgehog let loose a blench that knocked several piles of plates over with a loud clattering. There were cheers from all around with thunderous applause.

"Man, who is this kid?" Hare asked.

"Don't call me kid." Silver told him over his shoulder. "The name is Silver, got it pal?"

"Easy, easy." The rabbit replied quickly holding up his hands in defence.

At this precise moment, Amy came through the large doors followed by Chuck to see what the big fuss was about. When she noticed the white hedgehog sitting in the chair she walked right up to the table.

"Oh, good to see you awake." She told him.

"Awake?" Bean repeated. "This guy just downed a weeks worth of foot in ten minutes!" Amy simply smiled and lightly clapped. Silver grinned and raised his fist in a thumbs up, then he paused.

"Hey wait a second…" The white hedgehog started, before leaning forward sharply and slapping his hands down flat on the table shaking the plate. "What year is it?" Amy blinked in surprise.

"Saw wha?" She asked.

"What's today's date?" The white hedgehog asked more intently. "I need to know, please tell me!"

"Ah ha!" Chuck declared brightly. "I'd been waiting for an excuse to try out this little baby." He brought his left arm up and showed that strapped to his wrist was a new watch.

"And just what the hell is that?" Hare asked pointing at it.

"This just happens to be my new time recording device." The human said proudly with a smug grin. "Since we end up entering so many time zones on different planets I put this thing together. It can tell you the exact time in any time zone in the known galaxy, curtsey of the Combined Federation data base of course." He pressed a few buttons and a small screen flipped up. "Ah yes… now according to that Com-Fed information, the current galactic standard time is 8.7 of the 67th year."

"67th!!" Silver shouted in repeat, standing up quickly knocking the chair behind him over. "Then it worked… it actually worked…. I've come back twenty years! I'm back two years before the Iblis Trigger takes place!"

It had worked. Against all the odds it had actually worked!

But there was no time to waste. Every second wasted brought Iblis one step closer to being released. The sooner the event that allowed him his freedom was prevented the better and there was only one way to do that.

The catalyst for that event had to be removed.

The Iblis Trigger had to die.


	46. Episode 23, part 2

One of the major metropolitan area's on Hydra was the trading city Fleece. The area was a major port were trains would meet on the large railroad system that engulfed the planet, dropping off their goods before moving on again to their next designated drop off points. As it sat on the coastline, it also had a large naval port.

The reptilians were a trading race whose culture focused on commerce, making them perfect merchants and the Falcon Admiralty's financial backbone.

The city also had a large space port depot. Being part of the Falcon Admiralty it did a lot of interstellar trading and regular trips too and fro from the stations in orbit were common place.

The docks were busy that morning as a large unexpected shipment of mineral ore from the eastern mines had come in early in the morning and it had to be unloaded before the noon rush.

As the overhanging monorail trains swung into the dock, dozens of workers were there to unload it, moving the large heavy machinery needed to transport the crates.

Without any warning at all, one of the workers suddenly dropped dead beside the others. Those around him could only stare in horror as he shrivelled up before them like a raisin, skin dehydrating and cracking. It was as if any water in his body was being boiled out of him from inside. Within moments he was a lifeless husk lying on the floor.

Suddenly it happened again. Another worker on the other side of the dock suddenly screamed, before the sound in his throat was silenced as he fell over; his scaly skin withering as his entire body grew so thin you could see his skeleton.

Dozens at a time suddenly was struck down by some invisible hands, dying where their stood and shrivelling up. Those that were left ran for the exits, a stampede of reptilians desperately trying to escape this horrible death. One by one their number dwindled as they ran, corpse after corpse after corpse dropping away to the ground.

Racing out into the city streets there were still not safe.

A figure with a jagged outline, silhouetted by the noon sun raised his claw like hand and his bloodshot eyes glowing intently.

The screams of the dying filled the city. Fleece was home to over five million Reptilians and that number got shorter and shorter with each passing moment.

Wherever this intruder walked, death shortly followed. With his eyes glowing blood red, nobody was safe. Those that choose to hide shrivelled up in their hiding places.

The stranger moved through the streets, the ground cracked underneath each of his footsteps, sparks of electrical energy peeling away from him to scar the tarmac.

"Open fire!" Law enforcement charged at the monstrous being, only to die in mid step; dozens of them collapsing onto the ground and withering where they lay. Long range weapons were fired.

The bullets just bounced off him and the lasers were absorbed, becoming raw energy and being siphoned into the intruder's body.

"Call in the military!" The commanding police officer called back. "Call in the… arggghhhh!" His words died in his throat as his shrivelled up like a mummy and collapsed to the ground croaking dust.

As the stranger reached the mounted weapon, a simple glance in their direction was shot in their direction before one by one they exploded. Vehicles were overturned by the same harsh glance, sent flying into the sides of buildings to explode on impact.

With the defenders lying dead in the roads, the intruder turned his full attention on the civilians who even now were desperately attempting to flee for their lives.

For two whole minutes, the entire city screamed. Buildings everywhere were littered with the dead and the dying, their energy sucked right out of their bodies and absorbed. Each time another person died, the stranger's eyes glowed even brighter.

Not even hatchlings were spared. A school was targeted next, entire classrooms of infants expiring all at once and all the while the intruder watched with a sadistic smile on his face.

The screams were so horrible it defied imagination. Hatchlings merely a few years old weren't spared. Their energy surged up through the roof, culminating in mid air before flying down towards the intruder. It entered his body with one sudden surge and absorbing it, the intruder's crystalline body glowed brightly.

"You... you monster!" The headmaster declared; rushing out of the doors armed with a letter opening knife. The intruder allowed him to get close, before drawing his arm back and stabbing the reptile through the chest. The tip of his claws emerged out his back with an intense spray of blood. As the headmaster hung there is body withered into a lifeless husk as the life was sucked out of him and the intruder's eyes glowed a more intent blood red.

Letting the body fall to the ground, the crystalline hedgehog turned his attention on the rest of the city. From this vantage point he could see all the way to the city limits. Everything was silent and still but the hedgehog was not fooled. There were still a few surviving, hiding here and there in their silly delusion that their concealed position somehow made them safe.

Still, Mephiles had fed well enough. The energy he had consumed would sustain him. Disconnected from Iblis as he was the crystalline hedgehog had to get his energy requirements from other sources.

This meal had been most satisfying. However it did leave the little matter of a city now devoid of activity. Corpses lined the streets, filled the homes and buildings. It was a dead city and Mephiles found its notion quite unappealing.

"Oh, I'm such a sentimentalist." He sighed to himself, raising his hand high unto the air and clicking his crystallised fingers. His eyes glowed intently one last time before with a blast that shook the ground, dozens of powerful explosions rang out across the city. Entire buildings were reduced to rubble instantly, roads torn up and shattered. Trains were torn from their rails and tossed intense distances before crashing into the ground.

Anybody hiding when these blasts went off were killed instantly and other were crushed by the falling rubble.

The shockwave carried on for miles, shattering windows and turning up trees.

The blast took only a few moments yet its destruction potential was incredible.

When the dust and smoke finally drifted away, the city of Fleece no longer existed. Instead in its place was a gigantic crater, slowly filling up with water from the ocean as the levies broke.

"Sorry about that." Mephiles stated, giving the corpse on the ground beside him a half glance. "But I do so hate to finish a meal without clearing my plate."

As expected, he had been delivered into the past. Currently, Mephiles estimated that he had reached the beginning of the second winter. It would be another year or two but soon enough would come Rangarok; the worlds breaking.

Still, Mephiles could wait.

He had delivered the final piece of the puzzle here and now all that he required to do was watch and wait.

The Black Doom could handle the details of this grand coup.

* * *

Chaos was quickly engulfing the space above the Earth. Without a warning of any kind the occupying Confederation force spilt into two factions and started shooting at each other. Both factions ditched the Eye symbol as their icon completely.

One side adopted the banner of a dragons head while the other had their symbol of a curved shell like image with a jagged outline.

The fighting between them was fierce and bloody and inevitably the people on the Earth got involved. The Fesonians fighting under the shell icon seemed to have gone completely insane. They were opening fire on everything, killing any life form they could get their hands on besides themselves. They were on a murderous rampage, their minds filled with nothing but blood lust.

"What the hell is going on out there?" Jericho mandarin demanded, trying to raise the other resistance cells on the communications array. "Los Angeles Division, come in! New York Division, can you hear me?" The ground shook underneath him as several ships exchanging fire shot overhead. "Anybody… someone report!"

Taking advantage of the situation, Admiral Rikoye ordered the Black Arm fleet to lift off from Mars. With the Confederation at its own throat now was the perfect time to attack. Their ships organised themselves into formation and made their way towards the Earth.

"Attention Black Arms." A message was beamed to them as they entered the war zone. "This captain Palor of the Imperial Fesonian royal guard, we see you entering the battle zone."

"We have come to liberate Earth." Rikoye replied, sitting in his usual seat on the command chair of the Black Arm mother ship. "The Earth and its people are our allies. We will not permit its subjugation anymore."

"Then perhaps we have a common interest." The voice only communication stated. "We have spilt from the Dooms Eye, and by extension, the Black Doom's control. Admiral Baal is prepared to offer you alliance and protection if you would agree to aid us in driving Confederation forces from this solar system."

"Confederates asking us to fight Confederates?" Jailos asked looking a little stunned. Rikoye made a deep frown.

"And what of the Earth?" He asked after a moment.

"This world is not ours." Came the reply. "This is not the home of our soldiers, soldiers who gave their lives for a cause that either they did not believe in or did not understand.

Once Confederation forces have been defeated we will leave this area under your jurisdiction. After that you may do with it as you please."

"This could be a trick sir." One of Rikoye's direct subordinates told him. None of them had much reason to trust other Fesonian groups, especially since their own sect had been hunted by their own kind for centuries.

"We accept." Rikoye stated suddenly. "All ships, ignore the Imperial guard and concentrate your fire on the Confederation ships." He stood up. "This is the day we stop hiding. The day we stop running. The day we say enough is enough. The day we take the fight to them!"

Down on the planet's surface, the commander had just managed to re-establish communication with the other divisions. Reports came flooding of hostile exchanges happening worldwide and ships opening fire on each other in orbit. The Confederation had their back turned fighting their new enemy. Reports also showed that the Black Arms had engaged them. Stuart must have succeeded in his mission, there was no other explanation.

Jericho hadn't expected fighting of this intensity to break out but that didn't matter. The situation had to be taken advantage of.

"Attention, this is Commander Jarl Jericho Mandarin to all Hammer of Thor. Begin operation Gullinbursti, I repeat, begin operation Gullinbursti!"

Out of hiding G.U.N appeared with a vengeance. It had taken them the whole year since the invasion to rebuild even a small amount of their forces, but now they came at the occupying Confederate force like the wrath of god.

Anubis mechs went in first, large lumbering behemoths of met backed up by artillery fire from Turtle mechs.

This was also the time they chose to deploy their newest addition to their arsenal. This was a mech designed specifically for underdog fighting. The first mech designed to humanoid specifications, excluding the Diablon. This was a type of machine threat didn't rely on bullets or other types of long rang ammunition. It was design for hand to hand combat, mirroring the fighting style of their pilots the Asgard worshiping felines.

This is perhaps why the mech was ironically dubbed Einherjar; the name given to those who died honorably in combat and were given a place in Valhalla. Shaped like a smaller version of the Diablon, these machines flew out of their hiding places across the world and soured up to stand tall in the light.

Each feline had customized their mechs with various addons. Some fought hand to hand, while others had equipped their machines with various types of weaponry such as axes, swords and war hammers. Others had spears, shields and various other customized pieces.

Taking point, Jack sat in the cockpit of his own mech; customized with large shoulder pads and a large steel axe which he himself had graved with runes.

"Commander, we have incoming!" One of Jerichio's men announced, leaning over the radar. "A HUGE incoming!" The commander rushed over and the look on his face deteriorated into stunned awe as the radar screen began to black out completely.

High above, the Confederate orbital defenses were in utter ruin; pieces of it falling apart to be swallowed up when they fell into the atmosphere. As chaos usurped order, Stuart was able to blast his way with a stolen weapon to the escape pods. Many officers not loyal to the now insane Confederation forces were making a run for it as well.

Just as the agent was about to enter the pod, a dark shadow cast itself across the entire station and Stuart stopped and looked back as the sun was completely blocked out as a massive object neared the Earth.

"What the hell is that?" Jericho Mandarin asked, looking up as it grew darker and darker, the sun blotting itself out.

Stuart could only stare in utter disbelief as the Angel Wing settled itself into orbit around the Earth.

* * *

Using the ARK's jump engine, Shadow had moved the colony to a neutral region of space away from all the fighting where it was unlikely to be disturbed. Now it sat in orbit around a gas planet similar to Jupiter. Shadow hadn't seen any ships coming by within thousands of light years. It was now he took the time to rest.

"Ah yes, now this is definitely more like it." Black Doom stated sounding rather pleased, his projected form gazing over the six Chaos Emeralds the dark hedgehog had gathered. "Six emeralds within my grasp, the dimensional barriers on the brink of collapse and the Angel Wing under my control."

Shadow wasn't listening. He simply stood there silently by himself, arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed. The Energy from the Chaos Emeralds nearby could instantly recharge his energy and heal his wounds but for the moment the dark hedgehog needed mental rest.

His mind was full of guilt over the actions he committed in order to retrieve the Emeralds. Sincerely, he wished there was another way but the prize Black Doom was offering was simply far too great to pass by.

"I dare say that you've earned your premature reward." Black Doom announced floating over. Shadow's eyes flew open and quickly he turned around. "My other servants secure the requirements needed for the ritual so we have a little free time.

Be forewarned that resurrection is not easy. It will require a perilous journey and sacrifice on your part as, even with the dimensional barriers weakened, my influence is still weakened.

Do you understand?"

"Whether or not I understand is irrelevant." Shadow replied sharply. "At this point there is nothing I will not do to bring Maria back."

There was a short glimmer of satisfaction in all three of Black Doom's eyes.

"Very well." He started. "Most will claim that bringing a person back from the dead is impossible, but I have done it more than once.

So see, the average person is divided into two pieces. The body and the soul."

"The soul?" Shadow repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"The consciousness that animates all living things." Black Doom explained. "It is both your mind and your spirit. Without it, the body is nothing more than a useless husk."

"So I need Maria's soul?" Shadow asked. "Just how the hell do I get that?" Black Doom chuckled lightly.

"Rather an ironic question." He stated. "As I have told you before, Nexus is the realm of the dead. The souls of those who depart their lives in the other dimensions must travel through Nexus if they wish to move on."

"Get to the point." Shadow said in an annoyed tone of voice.

"The point is you must travel into Nexus and beyond it in order to retrieve her soul." Black Doom told him, matching his tone. "You can contain it inside a Chaos Emerald and then bring it back to the physical world."

Shadow frowned. He had once caught a glimpse of Nexus when Dark Oak had opened the Black Arm's ancient gate there to allow Krish to escape. It was a land of unending darkness, a wide river of slime running down the middle. It was a hell in its own right.

"Last time it took all seven Emeralds to open a gate there." The dark hedgehog reminded him. "And even then the gate could only be opened for a moment."

"True." Black Doom replied. "But when the entrance to Prometheus' realm was revealed the shockwave it produced weakened the barriers that run between dimensional realms.

Moving back and forth has been made far easier."

"But still hard." Shadow muttered. Black Doom simply nodded once.

"The window of opportunity to enter Nexus and then safely return to this universe will be short." He stated. "The tethers that bind me and my kind to that prison will attempt to ensnare you.

You are a creature of this universe. Physically you do not belong in Nexus. The longer you remain there, the harder it will be to leave."

Shadow managed a smile.

"That's why you can't leave on your own isn't it?" He asked. "You've been stuck in Nexus too long. Your physical body is the chain that ties you there."

"That is but one aspect of the prison." Black Doom said sternly. "But it is the most powerful. Be careful as to avoid the same fate. You're far more valuable to us outside our prison than inside."

Shadow paused long enough to take a deep breath.

"Alright." He said. "How do I get there?"

"First, take a Chaos Emerald." Black Doom instructed. The dark hedgehog half turned toward the container in which he was housing the six emeralds he had already retrieved. He held up his hand and the red Chaos Emerald shook for a second before flying towards him. Catching it out of mid air Shadow held it up.

"That will be your key in and out of Nexus." The demon like being said. "With this amplifying your powers and the barriers weakened you should be able to use Chaos Control to transport yourself there." The two smaller eyes narrowed a little. "But as I have said, do not linger."

Shadow nodded once.

"And where do I go once I get there?" He asked.

"Your contact will explain more." Black Doom replied.

"Contact?" Shadow asked raising an eyebrow.

"One of my direct subordinates." The demon explained. "I can not meet with you myself as I have other matters to attend to. He will be your guide through the darkness of Nexus. Do try to treat him with respect. He is representing me after all."

"Yeah yeah whatever." He muttered. "And after I get the soul and return what then? I don't have Maria's body"

"We will speak more upon the moment." Black Doom assured him. "Once you have the soul, then we will begin the transmigration."

His grip tightening on the emerald, Shadow brought out the energies needed. In his minds eye, he pictured that memory again; that brief glimpse of the landscape of Nexus he had seen so long ago now.

"Chaos Control!" He declared and instantly his body disappeared in a flash of green light.

Far away on the Earth, the last female Echidna cried out suddenly in pain and collapsed to her knees. A searing pain ran through her. It was not a physical pain. That was bearable. This pain came from a wound that ran far deeper, a piercing into a connection with another so profound it was like being stabbed in the heart from the inside.

"Miss Tikal!" Her friend, a feline working for the Hammer of Thor resistance declared, rushing to her side. "Miss Tikal, are you alright?"

"No." Tikal nearly cried, only just holding back tears. "No I'm not."

* * *

Sonic was used to methods of instant movement across large distances so the trip from one reality to another did not. This was however the first time he had set foot in Maginaryworld. From Cosmo, he had put together something of a mental image of what he expected the place to look like but the reality was so much grander.

It was like an expansive field of crystal shards as tall as buildings, most of them hallowed out to form the buildings in the city. Everything was made of crystal. The ground, the buildings, the sidewalks and even the sky itself seemed to be of the same material. All the while, multicolored light surged through the rock with predictable sudden surges, as if it were being beaten around like blood through veins.

Sonic was instantly reminded of Radiant Emerald, the secular dimensional prison Void had been held captive inside by Queen Illumina.

Cracks ran down surfaces everywhere and shattered fragments were scattered everywhere. Dozens of Void's people were attempting to mend the damage but there was so much of it that they were faced with an uphill battle to finish.

The people of Maginaryworld, Sonic observed, were a race of their own with unique characteristics. They all had large eyes and bizarre hair colors; some green and others outright purple; although Sonic approved of one guy with blue hair. They also had a round face without a nose.

Something the males only had were strange shaped hands with two large fingers and a thumb. The females all had hands with the regular number of fingers.

"Come, this way." Void announced, leading them across the start of a massive bridge that spanned the gap between the two sides of a colossal gorge that appeared to have no bottom.

Spanning out before them on the far side of the divide was a massive complex with many towering struts and battlements and like everything else, it too was made of crystal but unlike the constantly changing rest; its color was a constant emerald green.

"This is Queen Illumina's palace." Lumina told them. "It is there that the Precious Stone resides. Queen Illumina has ruled from here for centuries."

Something that resembled a scowl passed briefly over Void's face as they neared the large rocky gates that marked the entrance. Sonic could not help but notice that the crystal sky above seemed to dip just above the palace, as if its centre point were the building's top spire.

When they reached the massive crystalline doors that marked the entrance, the barrier seemed to dissolve as if it were made of melting ice allowing them passage through.

"So Blaze, what you been up to lately?" Sonic asked giving the cat a glance. "Did you manage to win back your home-world from the Dragon Blood?"

Blaze let her ears droop but she tried her best not to look saddened.

"No." She replied eventually. "The blood infests Fellena completely now." For Blaze admitting that took some considerable courage as it ultimately meant returning to her home was impossible. "And even if the Blood weren't there, it's so much a dried out husk now that it's not worth having." She sighed and looked away. "My people are better off on your world."

Sonic managed a smile.

"Now that would definitely be debatable." He muttered, wondering briefly how the felines held up against the Confederation attack.

Void lead them through into a central courtyard were dozens of guards in Greek style armor were standing to attention around the walls. As Void and Lumina approached they stamped their left foot and bowed a little, all at the exact same angle.

"As you were." Void muttered, floating past without giving them a single glance.

Miles had been quiet for some time. He had undergone such a personality chance that Sonic found it hard to believe it was the same young fox he had known for so long. That said the blue hedgehog could see that the cold and hard personality was nothing more than a mask.

Sonic could sense it almost; just below the surface of the being called Miles was the true persona, the happy almost childlike Tails. Cracks were already appearing in the Miles Façade and Sonic did not think it would be long before it failed altogether.

"I should warn you…" Void started as they reached the main palace entrance. "The head of the grand house of Seers is due for an audience with the Queen and the Tribunal council at this time. We'll be interrupting his appointment." Void stared Miles square in the face. "His name is Dionysus. He was…. IS…. Cosmo's father."

There was no sign of any emotion in the foxes face but Sonic, who knew him all too well, could look past that. In the fox's eyes was pain; and seeing that Sonic felt a sharp pang of grief.

"So long as you understand." Void added, before placing his hand on the door. Effortlessly the massive barrier pulled itself aside and they stepped forward into the central throne room.


	47. Episode 24, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 24: Across the River Styx

* * *

- 

The lack of warmth was something complete undeniable. The chill was so penetrating that Shadow could not resist it. It struck him down and felt him parallelized, the blood in his very veins suddenly a heavy burden. Gasping out, his breath a thick white vapour the dark hedgehog collapsed to his knees. He shook uncontrollable, his body desperately trying to heat itself up.

He had never expected to such cold and it took him completely by surprise.

The world of the dead was devoid of any heat. It was colder than the most extreme artic and the air was as stale as an ancient tomb. Gathering what energy he could, Shadow erected barriers around him and generated the spark of a Chaos Spear between his outstretched and by now near numb fingers. The cold was so great it threatened to snuff out the spark but pouring more energy into it from the Chaos Emerald in his free hand, Shadow refused to let it die. Eventually he prevailed and the warm returned some feeling to him.

Pushing his eyes open, Shadow gazed out across the length of the dimensional prison known as Nexus.

There was no life. No grass, no trees, no birds in the sky; not even moss on the dark jagged rocks that formed the rock for as far as the eye could see. The sky was a pale green with streaks of a sickly yellow strewn across. The sound of distant thunder seemed to constantly loom on the horizon.

Mountains of dark, almost black, rock stood up at regular intervals almost like fangs and the ground was no less jagged. In no one place was it smooth or flat. The entire immediate area looked as if something had torn through it with giant claws and teeth.

Gazing out over a ledge, Shadow stared down as the expanse before him. Now he understood where all that slime had come from when Krish had revived himself. A massive river ran down through a gorge with overhanging jagged boulders, heading directly beneath him and from this vantage point Shadow could see the river was a slow moving trail of green smile.

"So this is Krish's former place of residence huh?" He asked out load but blinked in surprise, hearing his voice bubble as if he were speaking underwater.

That chill refused to go away despite the barriers and heat he had caused to protect himself from it. Managing to summon enough will Shadow trudged forward as best he could despite his stiffening limbs.

He decided to ignore the fact that he had no idea where he was going. The mere fact he could move was enough at the moment.

As time endured, Shadow became aware of another kind of chill besides the temperature. A coldness had set in on the edge of his awareness. It was like feeling suddenly paranoid, like everything was out to get you and that feeling was growing more and more acute.

Shadow could shrug it off for the short term but he knew that any prolonged stays in this terrible place would not do him any good.

The method of using Chaos Control to get here, as Black Doom had suggested, worked. But even with the barriers between worlds weakened it had not been easy. Shadow had encountered something along the lines of dimensional turbulence during the jump, threatening him should he persist in his attempt. But the mere though of seeing Maria's face again had driven him on.

Black Doom claimed that Nexus could be exited in much the same manner but Shadow was reserving judgement on that. If leaving Nexus was so easy, Krish would have escaped centuries ago.

Getting into this dimension would probably be nothing compared to what it would take to leave.

Hearing a loud clanking sound, Shadow snapped around as some tall and lender shape emerged out of the gloom. Holding up the Chaos Spear spark and banishing it almost like a weapon, Shadow adopting a fighting stance.

"Whoever you are, back off!" The figure, still indistinctive complied and stood stock still. In the pale light Shadow could see a single eye, much like a Cyclops sitting in the centre of its head.

"I can assure you Shadow that I mean you no harm." It stated, taking a courteous step to the side. "I am your guide." Shadow managed a frown, Black Doom did say he would send one of his underlings to assist Shadow navigate this realm. The dark hedgehog was till annoyed that Black Doom wasn't able to take time out of his busy schedule to conduct the tour himself.

"State your name." Shadow told the guide.

"Certainly." It said in a very gentleman type way, moving forward into the pale golden light to reveal itself. Like Dark Oak, this being had coated itself in robotic style armour, only this one was far more streamlined. He was also taller than Dark Oak by head and shoulders. His shoulder pads were more wounded and his armour completely pitch black, darker than the darkest night. A pair of short horns grew out the side of the slender head, with the great oval shaped black eye in the middle. A long flowing navy blue cape hung out behind him.

Clasped in his left metallic hand was the hilt of a long slender staff, the top of which opened out with a glazed surface of a round mirror.

"Many from your universe know me as Jörmungandr." He stated. "Something of snake in the grass you might say, but you can just call me Black Narcissus." He bowed dramatically. "Second in command of the Titan Metarex."

So, Shadow though to himself, this was Black Doom's direct underling? His visage instantly told the dark hedgehog there was more to him than met the eye.

If Dark Oak's true horrible body lay underneath his armor, than what precisely was concealed behind this metallic form?

"Well if you're going to guide, then guide already." Shadow stated. "Take me to where the souls of the dead reside."

"But of course." Black Narcissus replied, before stepping aside and gesturing off in a certain direction. "Please, follow me." Shadow watched him for a moment as he walked away. Then the dark hedgehog followed but kept him at arms length and under constant surveillance. He did not trust this being for an instant.

"Please be advised." Black Narcissus added as they moved through the jagged rocks, heading further and further down a path that wound its way down towards the bottom of the canyon and the river of slime. "If the master has not told you already, this is not a place to linger. Its very laws corrupt and twist those who dwell within." He paused for a moment and gestured down his body. "Look what it has done to us for example. Once we were beautiful and angelic, but now we are forced to conceal our bodies inside these metallic shells as we can not bear to look at ourselves."

Shadow paid him little to no attention. He had no intention of staying here any longer than he had to.

As they reached the bottom they came out onto the shores of the wide river, the sand as black as Black Narcissus himself and stained grey in places. The green slime flowed on past them and now that he was so closed to it, Shadow could hear sounds coming from it. They were often lingering moans but sometimes screams, all intermixed and repeating. The sound was eerie.

"Where to from here?" Shadow asked.

"This river must be crossed." Black Narcissus replied simply. "I am certainly in your universe you have heard tales of the river Styx? Well you stand on its shores." Shadow blinked before gazing out across the width of the slimy stream.

The slime that poured out of the Black Arms gate came from the river Styx? The river from Greek mythology that the souls of the dead crossed before entering the realm of Hades; Erebus?

So… the analogy of Nexus as an underworld was perhaps more apt than he realized.

Shadow considered briefly using Chaos Control to teleport his way over but he was already certain the rules were different here. He did not want to risk it.

"So how do we cross?" He asked. Black Narcissus did not reply. He simply held his staff up into the air, the mirror at the highest point. There was a moment of silence before a blinking light as if from a lighthouse appeared on the far side. Black Narcissus angled his mirror just enough to reflect the light back, blinking a message to whomever was on the far side.

Shadow simply watched with unblinking eyes as silence endured for another few moments before something began to move. It was indistinctive as first, a mere blob in the gloom but as time past it became more distinctive.

A ship of some kind, sliding effortless through the slimy river towards them. It had the rusted appearance of a really old galley with a lantern hanging from the bow, its golden light illuminating the way. Its sales were rotted and masts half collapsed.

As it neared the shore, Shadow could see a figure standing by the helm, its face and body hidden by a long following clock that from a distance appeared to be made of absolute darkness.

"And who is he?" Shadow asked.

"He is Charon." Black Narcissus muttered, lowering his staff. "The ferryman." As the boat neared the shore Shadow suddenly felt sickened, the terrible feeling going all the way down to his stomach. It was as if he'd just stepped into a tomb, the feeling and smell of death was completely overpowering.

"Usually…" Black Narcissus added. "He will demand a gold coin to ferry a soul across, but as I am here this will be something of a free ride."

"As long as it's not a one way trip." Shadow replied simply as the anchor was lowered with a sharp thud into the slim and a gangplank was placed down by invisible hands. All the while the Ferryman did not move from his position.

"A soul is never ferried back across the river." Black Narcissus warned him. "If you do not find what you seek, then I'm afraid you'll be wandering in the land beyond for eons."

The mere prospect of spending so much a day here filled Shadow with dread. He was certain then that even if he didn't find Maria, his instincts might force him to use Chaos Control to escape regardless.

Black Narcissus boarded the ship first with Shadow following cautiously behind him. That sickening feeling of surrounding death intensified to the point where the dark hedgehog had to take a short breath to steady himself.

"This one is not dead." The ferryman stated; his voice a wispy sound like passing gales. Shadow couldn't see them but he could feel a pair of eyes in him, staring at him from somewhere out of the darkness. "He does not belong on by ship, let alone on the far shore."

Black Narcissus turned to face him.

"Come now, old boy; you've let those still breathing cross before."

"Those were special cases." Charon stated coldly.

"And so is this one." There was something in Black Narcissus' voice that shot down any argument before it started. "This is the order of Cronos." Hearing that name, Charon seemed a little disturbed; shrugging his shoulders a little and his shadowy hands clasping and unclasping the helm.

"Very well." He said eventually.

Once they were onboard the anchor and gangplank raised themselves. The ferryman turned the helm with hands hidden by shrouds of darkness and the boat swung itself back to move out to open waters.

Strangely the boat did not sway as it moved. The trip was static, the deck rigid as if being held; completely unmoved by the waves.

Black Narcissus stood by himself at the tip of the bow overhanging the large lantern. Shadow moved to look out over the edge when he was suddenly bloked by Black Narcissus' staff.

"Do not venture close to the waters." He told him without looking back. Shadow smiley scowled, pushed past him and looked anyway.

As soon as he did, something shot out of the slimy waters like a fish, a giant serpent looming over the deck of the ship dripping. Its massive jaws snapped open, exposing curved fangs with venom dripping from their tips.

A moment later, another head loomed up quickly followed by a third. The hydra like creature was gigantic; each snake like head supporting a different color skin and eyes, a massive fish like ail propelling it up over them. Just like the form Dark Oak had taken just before Krish's revival.

Shadow poured more energy into the Chaos Spear between his fingers, preparing to throw the energy based attack.

Black Narcissus stood the dark hedgehog by stepping in front of him.

Without a word, he lifted his staff before bringing it down hard on the deck. Upon impact, a silent shockwave shot forward to ripple along the surface of the water.

As the hydra loomed over them, a second beast shot out of the water on the far side of the Ferryman's ship. This was also a snake like creature but was far larger with only one head. It had more of the appearance of an Eel than a snake.

Its oily skin a dark green, almost black glistened in the semi light with beady orange eyes looming at them.

It roared out into the air, before leaping over the ship in an arching dive; tackling the hydra sinking its own teeth into one of the monster's many necks. Both creatures disappeared into the slime with a tremendous splash that rocked the ship, nearly tipping Shadow over the edge.

The ferryman regained control over his vessel swiftly enough and put it back on its course.

"What the hell was that?" Shadow demanded as Black Narcissus turned to face him.

"When Dark Oak, one of our most trusted lieutenants; chose to side with the traitor Krish his children were left without direction and are now little better than brainless monsters." He explained. "You do not need to worry about them. The children of myself and the others will deal with them."

As the ferry neared the far bank, Shadow looked back just in time to see a stain of thick red spreading out across the slimy waters.

"Children?" Shadow repeated.

"Children of a sort." The streamlined being replied. "Including Dark Oak and myself there are five Metarex Titan commanders and each one has their own brood, a unique family that with the help of the genetics technology of our lord, they created."

"I saw Dark Oak appear just like that thing." Shadow muttered, giving Black Narcissus a very hard stare. "So if that other monster was one of yours, do you look like it?"

"Actually our true forms are misshapen lumps, the very reason we need these metallic shells." Black Narcissus replied, gesturing to his armor. "The form you saw was his willing adoption of his kin's shape. It is a transformation all the commanders may undertake if the need arises."

The ferryman brought the ship close to the side as they neared the far rocky shore to prevent his ship from being struck and once they were parallel with the rocks, the gangplank lowered itself.

"I have done as requested." Charon stated, his voice sending shivers down Shadow's spine. "But I will not take him back across Styx. Not even Cronos himself can command me to do that." For the first time the ferryman took his hands off the helm and walked slowly towards them. Shadow felt the instinctive urge to back away but his legs refused to move.

The figure, made completely out of encircling shadows stared right at him; his eyes bearing down on the dark hedgehog like drills.

"When he finishes his business and wishes to leave, he must have an alternate means of escape."

"Don't worry old boy, he will." Black Narcissus replied, marching off the ship. It took a few moments but eventually Shadow was enough to send enough nerve impulses to his legs, ordering them to move. He almost jumped off the ship, landing on the rocks fell clear of it.

The gangplank was drawn up and without a glance in their direction, the ferryman returned to the helm and continued directing the ship as it moved down stream and out of sight.

Black Narcissus turned and walked off, the sound of his metal coated feel clinking against the rocks.

The uneasy feeling Shadow had gotten while being here was now suddenly far worse, as this side of the river had a more intensifying effect. It felt as he was descending, diving deeper and deeper into dark waters and the further down he went, the more desperately he needed to come back up for a breath of fresh air.

But come up he would not, not until he had claimed the pearl lying on the bottom.

* * *

- 

Sonic had only seen Queen Illumina twice before and both times she had grown to a tremendous, giant like size. Just like Krish however she could control her size and now she seemed no taller than the average person; both sets of golden wings folded behind her back with her long brown hair tied back into a ponytail behind her.

"Hey yo, queeny!" Sonic declared; throwing an arm up in the air to attract her attention much to the dismay of Flowlight, who looked utterly astonished that someone would address the queen so flippantly.

Both Void and Blaze had to hold their hands over their mouths to prevent themselves from laughing.

The royal throne room of Maginaryworld was a large, dome shaped chamber which, like the rest of this strange dimension, was made completely out of multi-coloured crystal. Around the outer edges were dozens of seats like an amphitheatre and in each seat; a person sat. Most of them were elderly Maginaryworld denizens wearing long flowing robes.

Actually now that Sonic thought about it, he'd never actually known the name of these people. Exactly who did they refer to themselves?

"Say just what do you guys call yourselves?" The blue hedgehog whispered to Lumina as Void floated forward to present themselves before the queen.

"The name of our species is Seedian." She replied giving him a side long glance. "Now keep it down. We've interrupted a meeting of the council." Sonic just grinned sheepishly and folded his arms behind his head.

"I apologise for the intrusion." Void started before all those assembled here and particularly towards the speaker on the podium before the queen. He was a Seedian with short white hair on top but long side burns that reached halfway down his chest.

Like the other council members he wore a long flowing robe with satchels down either side of his chest almost like a carryon from his side burns.

His skin was a pale olive and eyes a brick green.

This, Sonic guessed, had to be Dionysus as apart from hair color he looked almost like an older male version of Cosmo.

His bronze wings folded sharply behind him at the interruption.

Another part of Seedian anatomy, Sonic was quick to note, were the wings. Not all of them had wings, with long dove like feathers folded against their backs.

Only the elite had them. Illumina had them, the guy on the podium had them and a good couple of people amongst the council had them as well.

Wing colour also appeared to be something of status. The low level council members possessed wings that were white while those directly above had silver wings. Strangly, Bronze appeared to be the next level above that and only Illumina herself had golden wings

Flowlight had something of a set of wings, only on a smaller scale. Strangely Void did not have them but could fly anyway. Presumably that was some kind of energy based propulsion.

Sonic based this strange bodily adaptation as being part of a bloodline of sorts. Suddenly a though came to him. Hadn't both Gaia and Prometheus told him to seek out the bloodlines? Did they mean these bloodlines?

"Just what is the meaning of this disturbance?" The Seedian with the sideburns snapped at Void nearly stamping his foot. "I don't care what position you have Void, you do not have authority to interrupt a speaker then addressing the council."

"I realise my position, Lord Dionysus." Void replied. "But I have urgent news that can not wait."

Queen Illumina regarded Void with something of a piercingly curious expression before her gaze was drawn up to his companions. Sonic made a 'peace' sign at her with his fingers.

"This is an emergency meeting." Dionysus reaffirmed. "We have a crisis of the weakened dimension barriers on our hands. Whatever you have to say can wait."

"With respect my lord, I return with information about the new enemy we fight." Void cut him off quickly. "Perhaps even information about the fate of your lost daughter."

There was something of a low rumble of conversation amongst the council members and Dionysus had definitely been taken off his high horse, looking suddenly awe stricken.

"Cosmo…" He breathed with wide eyes.

Illumina blinked, before casting her attention towards the young golden furred fox standing the bottom of the podium.

"If the lord high seer would be gracious enough to allow me time to speak to the council…" Void asked, looking up at him from his kneeling position with an unmistakably smug look.

Dionysus nearly leapt off the podium and ushered Void up there himself, almost shoving him into the limelight.

"Woah those were quick negotiations." Sonic muttered and Blaze giggled slightly. Miles however remained silent, his face completely rigid against emotion.

"As you all know…" Void began speaking wasting no time. "… I am known for my rebellion, my direct challenging of Queen Illumina's authority." The face of the queen did not change but there was a rumble of conversation amongst the council. There were some mutters of agreement but the mass majority of them sounded a little angry. "And I still do not consider her superior, but now we must put aside our petty political differences in the face of such a terrible threat.

A force of destruction that can and WILL destroy everything we commonly believe in if we do not marshal ourselves against it." Then Void turned to deliberately look at Illumina. "This threat is the threat of the Black Doom."

This time there was reaction on the face of the queen. Her mouth opened slightly and her eyes widened in an un-mistakable expression of surprise. The council's reaction was far more vocal, dozens of them almost jumping to their feet and yelling; the entire chamber alive with noise.

Without even waiting for them to finish, Void stepped aside and gestured for Miles to take his place.

The fox put on the best stern expression he could manage and marched up to the podium. Queen Illumina raised her delicate looking hand into the air, sending a silent order for silence out. Nearly everyone closed their mouth at once as if they might die if they did not.

"My name is Miles Prower." He stated once he was sure he had their undivided attention. "If you do not know me, I was present at the defeat of Krish the Destroyer. I was cast, along with Cosmo, into the dimension transit used to defeat him. I was there when she was taken."

"Taken?" Dionysus repeated looking panicked. "Taken by whom? Who has my child?" Despite himself Miles could not help but deeply scowl.

"A demon." He stated. "Moving through the void between the realms, he reached out and ensnared her.

There was nothing I could do. I tried to hold onto her but his grip was far stronger and he tore her away from me, leaving me to spiraling out of control through the realms until eventually I crashed into the ground somewhere, breaking dozens of bones; unable to move for months." He paused to regain some of his composure.

"The being that took her was the Titan you call Cronos." The reaction of the council was one of mute awe and horror. Lumina gasped and put her hand to her mouth as if to silence herself, eyes wide in panic.

"Cronos?" Sonic repeated blinking his eyes. Gaia had mentioned Cronos before. According to her, Cronos had been one of the two twins who defeated the Titan Lord Oranos.

"You all know the name he has taken for himself in later years." Miles continued. "He is the Black Doom."

"The Black Doom has my little Cosmo?" Dionysus breathed looking grief stricken. "But why? What did he take her?"

"If you are her father then you know the answer to that." Miles replied without looking at him. "Your house, your family; are descendants of the Titan Prometheus who along with Zeus banished the other Titans into the depths of Nexus eons ago." Dionysus paled considerably. "She is the scion of your house, of the bloodline he requires in order to escape."

Miles looked queen Illumina right in the eyes.

"None of you may like it, but your eternal enemies; the Titan Metarex are preparing to escape Tartarus.

The shockwave you felt was the refuge of the ancient Titan, Prometheus, being opened.

That was part of Black Doom's plan. Once that door was opened, the rippling effect weakened the barriers between the realms. With them so weakened, with enough energy and a foot in the hypothetical door, you'll have an army knocking upon your doors by the end of the year."

Illumina moved forward, a very serious look etched into her expression.

"The Angel Wing?" She asked. Tails simply nodded once.

"Yes. It was released. I know not where it went but freed it was."

The queen drew in a sharp breath before slowly releasing it in a long sigh.

"Prometheus, why did you allow that?"

"I tried many times to reach the gate he was building, hoping to use it to travel into Nexus and rescue her." Miles continued on looking melancholy. "I failed. Each and every time I failed."

"The gate." Illumina interjected, her tone perfectly serious. "Where is it?"

"The miracle planet." The golden furred fox replied.

"My god." Void muttered in awe as the council broke open into murmurs once more.

"The **_what_** planet?" Sonic giving Blaze and Lumina a side glance. Blaze just shrugged.

"It's an old Seedian legend." Lumina explained. "It is said that when Cronos, the Black Doom, threatened to release Iblis and he was eventually defeated; a single planet from the solar system that was destroyed, survived.

The result of the collapsing gate there had knocked it out of its dimensional stability and it wandered from Realm to Realm, remaining in one reality for a couple of days before warping to the next."

"Each and every time I attempted to assault the planet, Black Doom would simply sever the chain binding it to an anchoring world and it would disappear."

Miles then turned around and looked sharply at Blaze.

"You should know, that the Black Doom is also the one you call Loki. He is your Dark One, the being responsible for the Dragon Blood plague that destroyed your world."

Sonic studied the expression on Blaze's face. At first it was surprise but then quickly descended into intense loathing.

"Pardon me for interrupting the drama." The hedgehog suddenly blurted out pushing hios way forward. "But can we cut to the chase here?"

"Sonic what are you doing?" Miles asked. The blue hedgehog just winked at him and carried on.

"I've spoken with two Titans already." He told them all. "Both Prometheus and…" Acting on a hunch, Sonic looked directly at Queen Illumina. "And Gaia Hertia." Just as he expected the looked of stunned surprise was more than clear on the ageless' queen's face.

With this theory proven correct, he carried on. That was a little piece of information he was keeping under his belt for a later time.

"They both tell me this is the time of the Iblis Trigger, if that means anything to you." Clearly it did, as the entire council were on their feet with loud shouts of alarm. "Hey and guess what?" Sonic asked, hoping to hypothetical finish them off. "Yours truly is that Iblis Trigger."

"Idiot." Miles breathed.


	48. Episode 24, part 2

Becoe and Decoe had half been expecting Eggman's apparent change of heart to be little more than a ploy to rally the New Fesonian Imperial guard to his cause. Apparently however Eggman had meant every word of it. He withdrew his forces from the Earth despite the heavy fighting there, abandoning his bases and leaving the people of that planet free from the Eggman Empire.

Throwing down his cards alongside Admiral Baal, Eggman was completely committing himself to a frontal confrontation with the Confederation.

What shocked the two hencebots beyond all else was Eggman's sudden diet.

Never before had their creator so much as cast a thought to his weight and yet suddenly he had emptied out all his refrigerators, ice boxes and secret snack hideaways and replaced it completely with greens, meet and health food. The final nail in the coffin was he had ordered a tracksuit with sweat bands and had installed himself a gym near the Egg Carrier's swimming pool.

It was such a sudden chance in behaviour that the two robots went over his bio-organic signature several times just to make sure it actually was him.

When questioned about his behaviour the doctor himself answered "My life begins anew." He would simply not elaborate on what he meant by that.

The Egg Fleet pressed on as Admiral Baal's campaign continued. Attacking from within the Confederation's own forces, The Marionettes did tremendous damage to the invasion force.

However their advance was beginning to slow down. The Confederation, at least those Fesonians who had remained loyal to the Black Doom in his disguise as the Doom's Eye, seemed to have gone insane. They would continually crash their own ships into the Imperial Army's own fleet in suicidal bids to destroy them and appeared to do it without a second thought.

Not only this but the Confederation seemed no longer to be interested in conquest. Now they were killing anything not having the jagged mark of the Black Doom. Entire cities were being wiped out at a time, spreading chaos and fear throughout the galaxy.

The Egg Fleet and a dispatch of Admiral Baal's own ships met in orbit around a gas Giant planet. They had suffered some losses and where regrouping before they went in for the final assault.

Despite the new bloodlust, the Confederation had been all but driven from the local spiral arm. The enemy was currently consolidating their remaining force on the planet Cyclops. Once that last bastion was finished then phase one of Admiral Baal's strategy would be complete.

Admiral Baal was elsewhere, conduction negotiations with the Combined Federation. The plan hinged on attaining Federation support to an invasion of the captured Fesonian Spiral arm. Only then could the threat of the Confederation be put to rest.

The Dooms Eye, or rather the Black Doom, had retreated back to Fesonian controlled space, leaving his troops to defend their outpost while he mustered more forces. It was imperative that they destroy that outpost before Confederation reinforcements arrived.

"Doctor, we have incoming hostiles!" The captain of one of the Imperial Guard ships yelled, his holographic image appearing on the Egg Carrier's bridge.

"I see them." Eggman replied, looking down at the screen in front of him.

Becoe and Decoe were currently in charge of the Egg Factory, which was working overtime to replenish the ships lost in the previous engagement. The factory could move under its own power and had impressive defensive capabilities, but this was merely a cover for its true strength.

The Doctor had been planning to use that hidden strength during the second phase of the plan, but now it seemed the Confederation was coming to him. The enemy was launching a pre-emptive strike, using all their forces. The radar screen showed a Ymir closing in with over five hundred attack vessels and fighters for support.

But what grabbed Eggman;'s immediate attention was the enemy fleet flagship.

"Attention, the Hades is incoming!"

The Hades was the Confederation's most powerful war vessel, built for the sole purpose of destroying the Combined Federation's home-world of Kraken. Eggman had engaged it in battle once before and its impressive firepower had driven the Imperial Guard and the Egg Fleet from their defensive position.

Swinging over to the communications console, Eggman pulled up the line with the Egg Factories control centre.

"Doctor, you tried firing the Egg Carriers cannon against the Hades before and it didn't work." Becoe warmed him immediately. Eggman had indeed tried to fire the charged particle cannon at the Hades, only to find the Confederate's shield blocking him. The irony of it all was that he himself had given them the technology necessary to build those shields.

"Boys." Eggman started gaining their rapt attention. "Its time."

On the far end of the communication, the two robots looked at each other.

"Activate the Guardian program." The doctor sated almost coldly. The two robots nodded once.

"We'll need three minutes to make the necessary arrangements."

"You've got two and a half." Eggman replied before cutting off the communiqué. Pressing another button he established a link to the lead Imperial Guard ship. "Captain, I have a new weapon that can stop the Hades but you have to protect the Egg Factory for two minutes before it can be activated."

"We'll be inside their effective firing range in less than one." The captain replied. "This weapon had better be damn good."

"I only feel some shame that there isn't galaxy wide coverage when I unveil it." Eggman said snidely before turning back to his work.

"Bathe them in fire." The acting commander of the Hades declared as his fleet aligned themselves into assault formation, the jagged mark on his arm glowing brightly. "Drown them in their own blood and let them sit and reflect upon the futility of their efforts."

All Confederation ships fired at once and the Imperial vessels moved to intercept, throwing up their own shields; galvanizing their collective force into a barrier to defend the Egg Factory.

Eggman piloted the Egg Carrier into reverse, the thrusters moving his ship backwards towards the Egg Carrier. Everything had to be perfectly synchronized or this was not going to work.

The Imperial ships held right up until the Hades moved forward with the Ymir for support. The massive amount of firepower those two ships unleashed vaporized half a dozen vessel instantly in a tremendous flash of light.

"Doctor we can't keep this up against firepower of that magnitude." The garbled message barley got through. "You have to hurry!"

"Destroy the scientist." The Hades commander ordered and the laser multi barrel cannon on the top of the Hades swung around ninety degrees to point directly at the Egg Factory. "Let the fool who would dare betray our lord's trust feel the wrath of the divine." This was the weapon they had fired before, forcing the Imperial Guard and the Eggman Empire to retreat. No shield could buffer an attack from that.

Eggman's fingers were dancing over the controls, working multiple programs at once trying to get everything ready.

"Production facility offline, power diverted; Guardian system now at 100 percent." Becoe announced.

"Magnetic clamps in place, facility clamped down; Guardian system standing by." Decoe carried on.

"Engage!" Eggman declared, typing out the final command into the Egg Carrier and pressing the large button marked; execute.

"What?" The Hades commander demanded as the vessel in front of them shuddered as if gripped by an earthquake. Then without warning, the side pieces of the Egg Factory projected out each side; shunting to a sudden top on the metallic bones there was attached to.

Those two halves folded in on themselves each on a giant elbow shaped hinge, armour sheets folding in place across that hinge to protect it. Then out of the far ends of these folded pieces, two robotic limbs moved to slide into place with a loud mechanical whirring of gears. These appendages twitched before opened out exposing themselves to be giant robotic hands, the fingers spread out wide with mounted laser turrets on the back of their knuckles.

"What manners of devilry is this?" The Commander demanded, as those who side pieces of the Egg Factory moved back into place now as massive robotic arms, each one dozens of miles in length.

The transformation continued with the entire under half of the factory descending sharply down hundreds of feet before splitting directly down the middle and pulling apart.

Like the new arms, these pieces moved on a hinge that became a knee, armour folding over bit by bit to protect it. The bottom half of these pieces slid down, curving back and snapping into place to form armoured feet with the Factories propulsion system under its heal.

Swinging into place, these new legs connected themselves to a waist that itself connected with a loud thud to the underside of the upper Factory district and even as it did so that district transformed as well. The remainder of the factories armour slammed into place bit by bit to form a giant chestplate, pieces of it moving back over the shoulders of the new arms and across the stomach.

As the final stages of the transformation completed itself, the manner thousands of different bits and pieces of this giant slid into place and the lights began turning on all over its body; some of them forming an icon in light over its chest.

Surprisingly, the icon was not that of the Eggman Empire. The symbol chosen was the symbol of Admiral Baal's new Fesonian Imperial army.

The Egg Carrier 4 moved to intercept velocity and as it neared the headless shoulders of this gigantic robot, it underwent a transformation of its own.

The two side-wings of the smaller vessel peeled back and slide into place along its top to from a crest, the thrusters moving with them. The charged particle cannon within the ship moved as well, its deadly interior moving to a become a pair of eyes in the middle of a mechanical face.

As it moved past body of the headless giant, massive grappling hooks were shot out from both ensnaring each other. The Egg Carrier was pulled out and fastened on, becoming the Giant's new heads as it pulled sharply aside to expose the face.

About half the size of a moon, the culmination of Doctor Eggman's robotics technology was a machine before he could only dream about building. It was only with the resources of the Confederation that he could make such a thing into reality.

"They say watching too much television can stunt a person's imagination." Eggman remarked from the control centre of his creation. "But sometimes it can really yield good ideas. May I proudly present to you, the greatest expression of robotics technology; the Imperial Guardian."

The near moon sized robot had overlapping plates of impenetrable armour over all parts of its body; protecting it the productive sites of its factory form and all its major joints. There were laser and projectile turrets mounted on the shoulders, the forearms and even the shins. Its face, modelled to look human was in fact a multitude of interconnecting pieces, all sliding together to give the far off illusion of a stern even angry expression.

"I do not believe what I'm seeing." The imperial guard captain breathed in utter amazement.

"Doctor, I can't get the Guardian to respond!" Decoe declared suddenly, his frantic hands typing over the controls. His counterpart tried as well but none of the commands they issued had any effect. The colossal titan of a robot simply refused to move.

"We've been locked out of the system sir." Becoe added. Eggman tried as well but even his command codes weren't accepted.

"What is this?" He demanded. "Who has locked me out of my own creation?"

"That would be me!" A voice announced over the intercom system suddenly. All three of them looked up and around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

"I can't believe you guys forgot about me!" The voice added sourly. It was a child like voice equivalent to that of a five year old.

"Who is this?" Eggman demanded.

The gravity of its being playing havoc with the ships near to it, the Guardian raised its left arm; its long dozen of mile long fingers outstretched wide. Then it brought it back sharply, tapping the edge of its head with its knuckles; sending shockwaves through its being rattling Eggman and his two robots around inside.

"Who is this?" The voice repeated. "WHO IS THIS?! You mean you don't remember me at all?" Now the voice shouted irritated. "I spent years delivering your messages and this is the recognition I get?"

Suddenly it clicked.

"Bokkun?" Becoe asked looking stunned.

"Oh you guessed!" The voice replied, sounding a little happier.

"But… but Metal Sonic killed you!" Eggman protested. "I saw it happen myself!"

"I'm a machine." The voice of the computer intelligence had had once been Eggman's messenger robot replied. "He destroyed my body but my mind is a computer program. It was simply downloaded into Final Egg's data banks and stored there."

There was a short bleeping and a holographic image appeared directly in front of the surprised doctor. It was an avatar of the quirky, chao like mechanical body Bokkun had had before, during his uprising, Metal Sonic had destroyed it.

"It took me a while but I managed to download myself into the Egg Carriers memory storage. When it connected with your Guardian; I got a body back."

"As much as I'd love to chat, we do have something of a crisis here!" Eggman declared, jabbing a finger towards the display of the Confederation fleet. "Quickly, blast those ships."

The holographic Bokkun simply crossed its arms and tilted his head away,

"Nope." It replied and the Giant robotic Guardian copied his stance, nearly hitting several of the Imperial Guard ships. "Why should I?"

"Because I created you." Eggman argued. "Now do as I say!"

"You left me stored away in a data bank for six years." Bokkun argued. "Why shouldn't I just let the Confederation destroy your precious Imperial Guardian just for that?" His words were sour but his tone gave over the impression that he might be willing to barter.

Out of time and out of patience, Eggman had little choice but to relinquish.

"Alright, what are your demands?" Bokken grinned from ear to ear.

"First, I want to keep this Giant robot body until the war's over. Nobodies going to pick on me when I'm using this thing!" He clenched a fist and the giant, island sized fist outside did the same for emphasized effect. "Then once all the fighting is done, I want you to make me a new body; like my old one but new and improved."

"Fine." Eggman snapped, seeing the Confederation ships move into attack formation.

"And respect; I want to be made someone you ask favours of rather than order around…" Bokkun continued.

"Yes yes, anything you want; just blast them!" Eggman declared frantically.

The Guardian lifted its arm high, before swinging it around and appointing its clenched fist towards the oncoming Confederation fleet.

With a loud churning of dozens of gears, the turrets on the top of its hand lanced out and aimed directly at the Hades.

"Charged particle intact, 100 percent." Becoe reported as the two vents on side cannon of the massive turret started glowing as light particles of light began flowing into it.

"Target locked on." The other hencebot added. Eggman brought up the firing control mechanism, the crosshairs of the targeting display locked onto the Hades.

"Ok, fire away." Bokkun muttered trying to look none committed but with a large grin on his face.

"Confederation scum; let's see you bare this!" The doctor sneered and with a powerful shockwave behind, the charged particle beam fired.

The Imperial ships had to evade drastically to avoid being hit as the deadly attack soured past, burning the paint off their hulls.

Fully confident that their Lord's prize ship would weather such an attack, the commander did nothing but watch as the attack came screaming at them. That was a mistake he would shortly live to regret. The shields the Hades threw up to protect itself were broken as if they weren't even there and the attack came crashing down onto the flagship like the hammer of Thor.

The bridge was destroyed instantly and the charged particle beam bore down through the entire ship, bursting out its back in a dazzling display of firepower. The beam kept on going, travelling through the entire Confederation fleet reducing more than half of their forces to vapour instantly. To finish, it struck the supporting Ymir battleship.

The behemoth of a vessel tired to buffer the attack but it fared little better than its flagship and eventually was overcome before being ripped to pieces, exploding in giant fireball.

The Hades slowly began to float away, a giant hole punched through its centre with the lights flickering on and off. Moments later dozens of life pods began to pour out of the wreck, making a break for the remaining Confederation ships that were now in full retreat, their grand flagship slowly falling into the gas giant's atmosphere.

The display Eggman had given them apparently had dissolved their bloodlust.

The doctor leaned back into his chair and let out a sigh of pent up relief, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his sleeve. To be perfectly honestly he really hadn't expected it to work. The guardian had been something he had saving for Feson itself but the Confederates had forced his hand.

"Well for starters, I like my own room, personal affects…" Bokkun continued by the Doctor held up a hand to stop him.

"Continue with those kind of wins and I'll grant you any requests you want."

"You don't fool me Doctor. If I give you the chance you'll have my program deleted from the guardian." Bokkun muttered. "I've backed my program up dozens of times and put in safety locks. I'm going nowhere."

"Like I said." Eggman began again. "Continue with those kind of wins and I'll grant you any requests you want."

While the doctor was confident that nothing could match it, he would leave nothing to chance. Now that the Confederation had seen his weapon, they would strive to create something to counteract it.

It was now a race against time to defeat them before they did counteract.

* * *

-

"The future?" Amy asked in stunned confusion, looking the strange new hedgehog over. "You're from the future?" Silver simply nodded once.

"Yes." He stated without a moments hesitation. "If this is really the 67th galactic year then I've come back in time around twenty years. It was the 89th year when I left."

There was a low muttering of conversation around those present. Confused stares were everywhere, along with some whispers that questioned their new arrivals sanity.

"As mad as it sounds, time travel is possible." Chuck announced. "I've experienced the phenomenon myself. Sonic, myself and a few others actually visited the ancient past when the Echidna civilisation was still alive." He leaned down to give Silver a cynical stare. The human reached into his pocket and withdrew a magnifying glass. Bringing it up, he examined the white hedgehog as if he were looking for some of clue. Silver looked a little taken aback by this, blinking in confusion at the strange behaviour.

"Chuck, just what are you expecting to find?" Hare asked, looking over the human's shoulder.

"He's a perfect test subject." The scientist stated; earning him weird glances from all quarters. "There's only one way to determine if he's really from the future. To the lab!"

Before Silver could argue, Bean and Hare carted him off to the research station Chuck had been using as a laboratory as sorts to create and repair all the gadgets and devices he built. During the designing stages for the ship, Tails had used the room to experiment with various forms of chaos energy that powered the engines.

"Time isn't as solid as most people think." Chuck told them as he starting bringing up a few programs on his computer. "Most believe it goes from past, to present and then to future without faltering.

After that incident with the Echidna' time ring I decided to put some research into the prospect and discovered something rather interested."

Silver looked alarmed when Chuck turned to him with something that looked like a pair of crocodile clips.

"Each period in history, each second and moment is attuned to a certain temporal frequency. By altering a frequency, an object or indeed a person can indeed travel backwards or forwards in time." He let the clips snapped together once. "Of course I've no clue of how to chance a person's frequency to allow time travel but if he really has come from the future then residual traces of his original frequency would still be lingering around him."

The clips were attached to the ends of the crest of quills on the white hedgehog's forehead, wires leading off from them to the computer.

The pink hedgehog glared at Chuck's back disapprovingly. It was clear he wasn't as interested in proving Silver right as he was in trying out another crackpot theory.

"Sorry about this." Amy told the now intimidated Silver. "But when he gets going he tends to get carried away."

Chuck's fingers were a blur over the console controls, dozens of programs flashing up on the screen all at once with something looking like a frequency range appearing on the side monitor.

"Ok, what you're seeing here is the changing frequency for our timeline." He announced, gesturing up towards the twisting erratic line on screen. "And now let's see our little friends' frequency shall we?" He typed another command and another screen lit up with another erratically moving bar.

This one was sharply moving up and down at a far quicker rate than the first.

"Again science conclusively renders results." Chuck said proudly, turning to face the white hedgehog. "I believe you." He removed the clips much to Silver's relief. "The others may not be so easily convinced but as a man of science I can not ignore the evidence and what my own experiences have taught me."

Silver just brushed his crest back into position wordlessly.

"Tell me, where is this ship heading to?" he asked as a few more people entered the room. Hyper and Talos were amongst them, the brother and sister looking curious as to what the commotion was about. "Tell me!"

"Planet Hydra of course." Hyper replied tartly, trying to look down her nose at him; which proved rather difficult as Silver was a good deal taller than she was.

"Hydra?" Silver repeated looking stunned; his mouth agape. "But…" He stopped himself, brining a hand to his forehead. "Of course… it's still there in this time."

"Still there?" Hyper repeated looking a little stunned. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not sure you, or any of us, should be asking these questions." Chuck butt in quickly. "I've seen enough movies to know that knowledge of future events can be disastrous."

"In the time from whence I came planet Hydra had been completely destroyed." Silver stated anyway without looking at any of them. "It wasn't the only planet to share that fate either."

Everyone went silent, some of them frozen in mid sentence as he spoke.

"Fenrir, Kraken, Feson, Chimera, Earth, Scylla, Pegasus; hundreds of planets all with populations into the billions had been reduced to rubble by the time I left."

"Earth?" Amy breathed looking panicked.

"They never stood a chance." Silver snarled through clenched teeth. "One by one, planets were devoured and even suns were snuffed out like candles. I saw that monster feed on countless civilisations and I was powerless to stop it."

Without warning, dozens of pieces of equipment picked themselves up from the work surfaces and flew across the room in something of a fit of anger; breaking open on impact. Chuck had to dodge his own registry device as it came dangerously close to hitting him square in the face.

"I barely made it to Roc to use the ancient Titan time device before it was consumed." Silver carried on, his fists clenched in his lap. "And finding the information we needed cost so many more lives. Hundreds must have died to give me the mere chance of altering that terrible history."

The lines in the white hedgehog's gloves glowed intently pale neon blue and anything that wasn't bolted down in the room lifted up into the air, including Hyper and several others of Milford's soldiers, all of them desperately struggling to get back down but the invisible threads holding them refused to budge.

Amy looked over at Silver, whose expression was one of contorted angry; angry that had long since been repressed and was seeping through the cracks of an emotional mask. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

He flinched at the touch and after a moment the floating people and equipment gently settled back down.

"Well now that I'm here that's all going to change." He muttered. "I know who was responsible for those horrible events and while defeating him in the future is impossible, here I can do it, here killing him is possible.

If he dies before that monster is released then…"

Silenced gripped them all.

"Who wants cookies?" Sera asked tying to break it and change the subject.

"I do." Silver quickly replied all of the anger disappearing from his face and putting his hand up.

* * *

-

As expected, the destruction of one of their cities had sent the Reptilians military into a panic. The spaceports had been locked down and their military was on high alert. Not that any weapon they possessed would stop the being responsible for such a horrendous act.

Mephiles watched their efforts to galvanise themselves into an effective fighting force from afar. They were pathetic, like little ants scurrying around trying to avoid being hit by the rain.

They didn't seem as terrified as he would like however. It seemed they were used to a tide of terrorist attacks because of some bad policy decisions and even the destruction of a city wasn't enough to get them completely riled.

But that could be altered quickly enough.

The last target had been a production facility.

What they really needed was an attack closer to home.

Standing overlooking the large metropolitan area, Mephiles made a quick estimate of how many people were here. Millions maybe? Perhaps over a billion, it was certainly large enough.

Having already fed, the crystalline hedgehog didn't have any particular strong need to absorb their energy, their very life. However it did seem like a waste to put all that power to waste.

Slowly he raised his clawed hand, wetting his lips in anticipation but before he started; he felt a watchful presence observing him.

It was the unmistakable feeling of an eye set directly on him, watching him with an unfaltering gaze.

"Ah…" He breathed, lowering his hand. "About time you noticed me." Slowly he turned to look back over his shoulder. "While the cloak and dagger espionage is rather impressive, we really do not have time for it."

A dark silhouette seemed to simply phase into existence; the shadowy outline of a creature with two long horns and three glowing orange eyes.

"I have been expecting you." A deep voice stated, and the two lesser eyes underneath the larger third narrowed.

"Yes I know." Mephiles replied. "As we're on something of a tight schedule I'll keep the introduction brief." The dark silhouette growled, the third eyes widening. "I have delivered the champion of future to this time.

I trust the other two champions are ready?"

"One most certainly is." The silhouette of Black Doom said. "The other will take some more time but he will be ready in time to the confrontation. Ragnarok will happen." The silhouette moved a little closer. "And what of your champion?"

Mephiles managed a smile; exposing jagged teeth.

"Silver is certainly strong enough. A little naïve and thick headed but he'll do. I've set him in the right direction. All you have to do is set up the targets for him to knock down."

Despite the clear distain Black Doom had for Mephiles, this news was clearly something that pleased him.

"I'll give them all targets." He proclaimed. "Targets worthy of their skills. Each other!" Without another word he faded away, disappearing into nothingness.

Mephiles chuckled lightly, his bloodshot eyes gaining a faint glow.

"Then I shall see you again at Rangarok." The crystalline hedgehog muttered, turning to face the city below.

Now they were enduring the second winter. Soon the third winter of Fimbulwinter would come and once that was over Ragnarok would occur.

The cracking of the world.

The rendering.

The Iblis Trigger.

That day, when all hope fled and light vanished into the darkness, would come soon enough.

Slowly Mephiles turned to face the city.

But for these creatures, it would come far sooner.

Reaching out, he could feel the abundance of life force just sitting there. Like a well prepared meal laid out on a silver plate.

Raising his hand, Mephiles started eating.


	49. Episode 25, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.CGO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 25: Present Vs Future!

* * *

Shadow was beginning to see why Krish had been so desperate, and willing to do unspeakable things, to escape this terrible place. The cold only intensified the further he and Black Narcissus traveled through the land beyond the river Styx. Shadows engulfed the land and Shadow was certain they were being watched from each and every one of them.

Black Narcissus did not seem phased by the extreme and horrible conditions here. His stride never faltered and he did not have a shield and glow of energy to keep him warm. Shadow felt as if he let the spark of a Chaos Spear he was holding go out, he would instantly freeze.

The Metarex stopped briefly for a moment, stamping the blunt end of his staff down in the ground as he stared out along the dark road ahead.

"Something wrong?" Shadow asked coming up alongside him. Just ahead the jagged rocks seemed to lance up into the sickly green sky like a mountain range; a sheer mountain of black, ominous and foreboding.

"To reach the bridge to the Otherside we must cross this part of Yellow Zelkova's territory." Black Narcissus replied, letting his shoulders droop a little. "While, unlike Dark Oak, Zelkova is loyal to the Master, his children are unruly beasts that crave blood above all else and will attack even their own allies to attain it."

He glanced back at Shadow.

"We will attempt to bypass them but if they track us be ready for a confrontation."

Shadow doubted he had the energy for a skirmish let alone a fight with any monsters bound to exist in this terrible place.

They carried on and not a word of conversation past between them for the sake of stealth. Not that Shadow really wanted to talk to this strange being. While he was under Black Doom's ordered to lead the hedgehog to this 'Otherside', Shadow did not trust him. Neither for that matter did he trust Black Doom.

The trek led them through a narrow canyon with the jagged, dark mountains overshadowing them on both sides. Rocky overhangs that threatened to fall and crush them at any moment loomed ominously above. A mere glance at the place revealed to Shadow dozens of places for observers to hide.

Suddenly a long howl rang out and Black Narcissus stopped in his tracks. Shadow glanced up sharply trying to see where it was coming from .The sound was like the call of a wolf only far more shrill like the whistle of howling wind on the mountain top.

Black Narcissus gripped his staff in both hands and carried on, only now with a more gingerly step. Not needing that to sense danger, Shadow did the same; watching where he put his feet to make less a noise as possible.

They reached the end of the canyon without incident however, the walls of the mountains peeling back as they emerged out onto the start of a long field. In the distance Shadow could see the ground drop away and a never ending abyss carry on afterwards.

At least he assumed it was never ending. A thick cloud like fog clocked everything about a mile in. It was impossible to stare past that barrier.

What caught Shadow's immediate attention however was drawn to the massive stone edifice jutting off the edge of the land. A large suspension bridge with rusted metal for cables and stone with rotted wooden planks for a road. It carried on beyond the fog and Shadow could not see the far end.

For all he knew there wasn't one.

"The gloom of Tartarus." Black Narcissus muttered. "That abyss beyond there is a prison that makes what you have endured thus far seem pleasant. Eternal darkness and despair await those who fall in. And an eternal companionship with the un-maker, Iblis." There was a glimmer of humor in his single glass eye. "Do try not to loose your footing on the bridge."

Shadow forged a frown, before staring off at the bridge itself.

"This Otherside… is the far side of the bridge?"

"Those still with a physical body are forbidden to pass beyond this point." Black Narcissus told him. "None of the Metarex who venture forth have ever returned."

Without warning the side of the canyon wall behind them burst open, a spray of dark stone shards and dust rocketing into the air. Black Narcissus side stepped drastically, almost somersaulting out of the way as a dark shape galloped forward on all fours.

Before Shadow could react, a giant paw smashed itself into him sending his body flying down the short hill to roll into the middle of the dark field.

The best stood up on its hind legs and roared and when the dust began to settle, Shadow could see the wolf like body; only with three massive heads with three rows of serrated teeth.

Its overall mass was huge, at least five times their height put together and leaving massive footprints in the ground as it moved.

"Cerberus!" Black Narcissus declared, holding his staff high in a defensive stance. "You have no orders! Return to Zelkova's hall!"

"Blood!" The wolf declared with all three heads. "I need blood!" Galloping it charged down the hill towards Shadow.

Barely able to keep the spark alive, Shadow somersaulted back to his feet and dodged the three pronged attack.

"He is not your prey!" Black Narcissus shouted, whirling his staff around directing its tip at the beast.

A blast of energy rocketed forth, striking Cerberus on the back; the shockwave nearly knocking him over. The creature stumbled briefly but it did not falter in its charge; moving like a deranged beast with saliva flying from its jaws.

In not fit state to fight, least of all here, all Shadow could do was about turn and skate away as fast as he could.

Making for the bridge, Shadow was hoping what Black Narcissus said was correct and no Metarex would dare try to go beyond the fog. Cerberus kept coming, galloping on and one never slowing down even for a moment.

Black Narcissus kept trying to snipe the beast from a distance with a wide variety of energy blasts but the creature ignored even those that managed to hit it.

Reaching the bridge, Shadow about turned; half heartedly hoping that Cerberus was going to stop before he galloped into the fog. The insane monster actually increased his speed, all three mouths opening wider.

"Ok, new plan." The dark hedgehog muttered, taking a few steps back to make some distance between the edge of the land and himself.

Just as Cerberus reached the edge and set a foot onto the bridge, then Shadow pumped more energy into the spark he was holding and ignited a true Chaos Spear attack; hurling it down into the bridge just beneath the monster's feet. The bridge floor cracks and splintered before collapsing completely. Unable to bear the weight of the creature, it tumbled down into the abyss.

Cerberus let out one long howl before he too disappeared, falling into utter darkness; the sound then suddenly silenced.

The cold of Nexus gathering in around him, Shadow had to draw power from the Chaos Emerald he was holding to in order to prevent it from freezing him where he stood.

"It's a shame but Zelkova should really put a tighter less on his children." Black Narcissus muttered, coming up on the far side of the gap. "I have done as the master instructed. I have led you to the bridge." He pointed with his staff towards the fog. "From this point on you will on ground unfamiliar to the Metarex. You will be beyond our ability to help."

Shadow said nothing. Instead he slowly turned to look at the fog, as impassable as a brick wall; stretching up forward and on doth sides for as far as the eye could see.

Holding up his chaos spear to light the way, he began forward.

As he neared a strange feeling guilt began to creep over him. A feeling that what he was doing and was about to do were wrong in some way. Shaking it off as best he could, he stepped into the fog and vanished.

Black Narcissus stared after him for a moment. Then he chuckled almost maliciously and about turned; leaving the hedgehog to carry on alone.

The bridge seemed to go on for some distance but Shadow did not want to risk going fast. It was completely possible the bridge might end at some point in mid air, leaving him to fall into the dark abyss below.

The feeling of guilt continued to grow, accompanied by another more tangible feeling of nausea.

It suddenly grew so wrong that he had to stop, falling to down to a knee. He placed a hand over his mouth to stop himself puking.

"Beyond is holy ground." A voice stated, echoing as if in the midst of a cave. "Those whose lives have not yet ended may not journey here. Return from whence you came, for face the consequences; for only the dead may pass here."

The feeling of pain intensified so much that Shadow understood why none of Black Doom's cronies had returned from here. This sickness could have driven someone to dive off the edge of the bridge and into Tartarus to make it stop.

Fighting it with all his might, Shadow carried on, forcing step after step. He had come so far; he would NOT be denied now.

He was the Ultimate lifeform. No pumped up stomach cramp, no matter how painful, was going to stop him.

Seeing that a physical attack wasn't working whatever guarded the Otherside tried another tactic.

It had attacked the body and now it attacked the mind.

Every painful memory in Shadow's head, every grievance and every fear came alive in a sudden burst stopping the dark hedgehog in his tracks.

In that single instant he was reliving Maria's death, his imprisoning in Prison Island, the battle with Krish and even when his body was overtaken by the dark god. The pain, both physical and mental, was so maddening Shadow let the Chaos Spear drop as he staggered out screaming.

"Turn back." The voice stated once more.

Shadow started clenching his fists so tightly he was drawing blood.

"Turn back. Or you will die."

Opening his eyes, fighting back tears; Shadow gritted his teeth.

"I…" He started, moving forward and with each step the pain got worse and worse. "Am…" Fire was alive in his eyes and growing stronger. "I am the…" Clasping his hands together energy started burning around him. "I AM THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM!" Skating forward, not caring if he tipped over the edge, Shadow pressed on in utter defiance.

Suddenly the fog ended and the mental and physical pain vanished so suddenly he staggered forward, stumbling off the bridge and onto the far side.

But to his utter disbelief there was nothing there. Quite literally nothing. The physical land, pure white stretched on forever and ever and the sky was the same. It was a void, nothing but the colour white forever and ever.

Shadow dropped to his knees, sweat dripping off him as he recovered from the ordeal. That would have been enough to mentally destroy anyone else. But Shadow had been designed from day one to be sturdy, both in the mind and in the body. Still that had brought him to brink of insanity.

Wiping the sweat away with the back of his hand, Shadow pulled himself to his feet.

So this was where the dead went? This was the afterlife?

No… something in the back of his head told him that what he was seeing was not the hereafter. As if knowing it instinctively he knew this was more of a terminal… a stop off station of a kind. A place for souls to commune and rest before moving on; moving on to what he didn't know.

Holding up the Chaos Emerald, Shadow called out into the white abyss;

"Maria!"

This was as far as he could physically go. If he could not get to her here then…

"Maria!" He called again.

Only silence replied.

Just when the thought that perhaps he had come here for nothing, something sparked on the horizon; a flash of light in the abyss.

Shadow started forward, clinging onto that shred of hope.

"Maria…" That spark seemed to drift closer, becoming a moving dot on the horizon that grew bigger as it drifted nearer.

Skating towards it, shadow reached out.

Even if he could not see her face, even if he could not hear her voice or even if he could not smell her scent; Shadow knew it was Maria.

He could feel it.

Without a moment's hesitation he presented the stone forward. The Chaos Emerald glowed softly and that soft glow seemed to attract the light that was Maria. As if it were drawn by a magnet, the spark moved until it seemed to ooze like a liquid into the emerald.

For a single moment Shadow caught the image of the girl, with spread dove like wings, before the spark had completely entered the stone and the image diapered.

Grasping the emerald close to himself; Shadow could see it now retain a sudden warmth. And not just temperature wise, there was warmth there Shadow had been missing his whole life.

Far away on Earth, Tikal opened her eyes with a sudden horrific expression on her face.

"NO!" She cried out. "Shadow, No! Don't do it!"

She started running, fear and terror creeping into her mind by the second. She had to stop this.

"Chaos please…!" Even if she had lost the ability to move through space and to call upon her ancient friend, she hoped beyond hope that he would come to her in her time of need anyway.

"Miss Tikal wait!" The feline assistance called out after her. But he stopped in his tracks when a geyser of water seemed to erupt from the ground, bursting forth and arching up; sprouting arm; wrapping the echidna in an embrace.

There was a short flash of red light they, the water demon and the ancient girl, disappeared.

Black Doom's projected form was waiting for Shadow in the Observation platform of the Ark when the Chaos Control, breaking through the weakened dimensional barriers, started before him.

Shadow was definitely having more trouble leaving Nexus than entering. That was to be expected. The longer one spent in Nexus, the more one became anchored to it. Black Doom and his armies had spent so long there that leaving was near impossible. The rules of existence in that place refused to allow it.

Before too long however those rules would be broken.

Resilient as ever, Shadow forced his way back through dimensions and came flying nearly out of control through the warp landing with a loud thud on the metallic floor.

"Ah." Black Doom said softly. "You certainly took your time."

Shadow did not reply. He was too out of breath. He was covered from head to toe in sweat; the perspiration dripping off of him to form a puddle around him. Unable to keep himself up he collapsed onto the floor, holding the emerald closer to himself and shivering.

"Get up. You look pathetic." Black Doom growled, not impressed with the display.

Fighting to get back up, Shadow slowly moved back into a sitting position. He was shaking an was barley able to lift the emerald up for Black Doom to see.

"Good. I sense the captive spirit." The demonic projectile stated. "Now we can proceed to the next stage of rebirth."

"Tell me." Shadow started, vaulting himself back up. He was still trembling and breathing hard but now he was so close to his goal he would not let his body give up on him now. "What must I do next?"

"Now that you have the spirit, you must have the body." Black Doom explained. "But her original one is totally unacceptable. Wherever it is it has been decaying for fifty years. You will have to create her a new one."

"A new one?" Shadow repeated. "How the hell do I do that?" There was something there, a gleam behind Black Doom's three eyes that Shadow did not like at all.

"That is something I can handle myself." The projectile gestured off towards the door to the inside corridor and it swung open. "But that can wait. I can see you are tried. You spent only a short time in Nexus yet you found it almost beyond physical endurance to leave.

The same tether that binds my kind, even with the weakened barriers."

"No…" Shadow gasped. "No, I can… I'm fine. We do it now!"

Black Doom chuckled.

"While your determination is quite admirable, it will take me a while to make the necessary arrangements. I have left orders with the Ark's crew. They will be beginning a returning jump to orbit around the Planet Hydra as soon as possible. I have discovered the last Chaos Emerald to be there."

Shadow could not argue that he was finding it hard to stand up at the moment.

"Believe me Shadow, for the next phase of rebirth you will need to be fully rested."

* * *

-

Approaching Hydra the Blue Typhoon tried to radio ahead to receive authorisation to land and to inform the planetary authorities that they had Talos and Hyper onboard but thus far their attempts at communication had gone unanswered.

"Again, Hydra space control this is Blue Typhoon please respond." Milford repeated over and over again on the communications array. By now the Typhoon had entered the reptilian's home solar system and their course would take them on a landing trajectory with the capital city.

"That's no ordinary time delay." The lieutenant concluded eventually. "I'd know radio silence anywhere."

"Radio silence?" Talos repeated, looking over his shoulder. "There's never any radio silence for incoming ships. That's a security precaution to avoid collisions."

"I guess we'll know soon enough." Mitford sighed.

Hydra looked dark green from orbit. According to the information in the Combined Federation it was mostly swamp land with an industrial society build upon whatever stable land existed.

"No escort ships, no guiding displays… nothing." Talos muttered looking extremely puzzled. "It's as if all the landing procedures for incoming ships have been suspended."

"I don't like this." Mitford told Amy and the others as they entered orbit around the planet, still with no word from the authorities below whether they were allowed to land or not. "I know military procedures and this is a security lockdown.

No information going on or out. Zip... nada… nothing. That kind of total information and communications silence comes from either a failed coup or a war."

Hyper's eyes were suddenly alive with fright.

"Given the situation we're in, we should take a look." Chuck added on. "I don't suppose we can raise Dark Oak on the radio?" Mitford shook his head.

"Even if I knew frequency his armour was using, I wouldn't dare, not without that fox friend of yours here.

"I guess we go down then." Hare muttered, looking back at Bean and Bark.

Silver had found himself a quiet spot with a large window that stared out into space. It was one of the observation decks and at the moment it was deserted. From here, the white hedgehog had a good view of the planet as the blue Tyhpoon began its descent.

It was still almost too incredible to believe, but there it was, planet Hydra.

A world that in the time from whence he same, had been destroyed.

It was unconfirmed whether it had been Iblis that had destroyed it or some event in the run-up to Ragnarok, or even precisely when the destruction had occurred, but that did not matter. If events remained unchanged this world would be completely destroyed very soon.

Anger surged through Silver's entire body. So much death, so much devastation, so much chaos…. And all of it caused by consequences of the actions of a single person. It had taken years of research to discover the ancient time machine and then years more to learn the identity of the Iblis Trigger but now it was all paying off.

Silver had never seen a universe untouched by Iblis' hunger. He had been born about two years after Ragnarok, the Iblis Trigger event, and had always endured the bleakness that was existence in that future.

"All hands brace for atmospheric entry." A voice announced over the intercom system and almost instantly the floor beneath Silver's feet started to tremble. The hull of the ship gained an orange glow as it met with atmospheric friction, the glow becoming more intense as they moved further and further down.

Soon the black of space started to fade and wisps of sky came in, eventually becoming dominant and then solidifying with cloud cover.

As soon as they were down, Silver was going to have to start out on his own. These were nice enough people and the food here rocked but there was the mission to think of.

The capital city, like Metal City on Chimera, had a space depot where incoming ships were allowed to land. It wasn't as large as the one on Chimera and it looked a lot more like a construction site with stacks of pipes and framework lining the outside. But as other ships had landed there it seemed alright.

Pointing the belly to the ground, the ship lowered itself down before landing.

As soon as it had touched down, dozens of large turrets rose up from out of hidden positions in the ground; their barrels swivelling around to point directly at the ship.

"What the hell?" Chuck asked, staring out from the bridge.

"Attention foreign space craft." An audio only signal suddenly came through the communications signal. "Your ships crew is under arrest. You are to lower your weapon and prepare to be boarded."

Dozens of reptilians armed with Confederation style plasma swords and rifles started out from the buildings; forming a small army as they moved towards them.

From here those on the ship could see dozens of other ships were being taken over, ordered to surrender as large mounted defensives were pointed at the unsuspected hulls.

Their crews were ordered out at gunpoint and placed under instant arrest.

With her hammer in hand, Amy raced to the cargo bay. There was no way any of them were going to give up without a fight.

When she got there she found that the doors to the outside were opening, the ramp lowering to the ground outside.

"What are you doing?" She demanded, seeing Silver operating the door controls. He looked back at her over his shoulder and lightly smiled. Once the ramp was completely lowered he calmly walked down it. As soon as he set foot on the ground, the ramp rose back up and the door closed shut after him.

Seeing him move towards them, the reptilian police raised their weapons.

"That's far enough." Their captain shouted over. "Put your hands behind your head and freeze."

The white hedgehog stopped a short distance away but did not do as asked.

"Leave." Silver said simply staring them down. Go back and do whatever else it is you idiots do all day and leave them alone. They are not your enemy."

"Shut your mouth mammal." The captain shouted back. "All of you stinking warm bloods are under arrest! Alpha team, move in!"

Several of the reptilian police, armed with large nasty looking weapons, made their way towards the Typhoon.

Silver simply smiled.

"You guys are outta your league." He told them as they neared. "Back off." His eyes stared right at them and sudden intensity and ferocity of that stare that made them stop and hesitate.

"He's just one degenerate mammal punk!" Their captain declared. "If he's not cooperating just shoot him!"

Rifles were raised.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Silver muttered, raising his hand and clicking his fingers.

The marks on the back of his hand glowed brightly, trailing a soft blue light as he moved.

The ground beneath the Reptilian police's feet suddenly began splintering, parts of it cracking and flying up into the air. Then with one sudden force, an entire sheet of granite tore itself up tipping them up and knocking them over.

Holding his hand up towards the floating rock, Silver clenched his fist and the piece of ground broke into dozens of pieces; all of them sent flying at the backline of police. The officers had to bring up their anti ballistic shields to shield themselves.

"I'm done with warning shots." Silver told them. "Next time it will be taken seriously."

"Open fire!" The captain shouted even before the white hedgehog had finished shouting. "It's a mutant! A demon! Kill it!"

The white hedgehog let out an exasperating sigh as dozens of reptilians raised their weapons and charged.

The marks on his hands glowed brightly as he reached forward towards the stack of pipes some of the long range marksmen were using to shield themselves from attack.

The pipes lifted themselves right into the air in response, hovering there without support; suspended there completely using telekinesis.

About turning, Silver threw his arm forward and the pipes hurled through the air becoming deadly projectiles.

The reptilians threw themselves out of the way as they came slamming down on top of the mounted weapons, crushing them into the ground.

Not heeding the display, some of the reptilian police charged in with their plasma swords drawn hoping for an advantage in close range combat.

Silver dodged their swings with ease and whenever one of them got to close, a well placed kick or punch sent them rocketing backwards.

The circle on his hand glowing again, Silver reached forward and dozens of them froze in mid stride unable to move. A single pulse passed through the air and the telekinetic shockwave knocked them backwards dozens of feet hurling them into other incomers.

"That's unbelievable." Knuckles started in alarm watching from a window.

Amy watched Silver's unique style of fighting in clear puzzlement. It was a balance of martial arts and telekinetic moves. Silver seemed to have powers that surpassed Blaze's when it came to remote manipulation.

Darting forward, Silver shot between two rows of police dragging his arms back; the action causing the aggressors to loose their footing as their were telekinetically torn up into the air and dumped back down.

Reaching the mounted weapons, the white hedgehog laid a hand on the armour with the marks glowing. The screws and metallic sheets flew apart, all of it dismantling in an instant; the different parts scattering across the ground.

Lasers were fired at him from a distance and displaying another power, Silver leapt into the air and hovered there; suspended by his own telekinesis; his body outlined by the same faint blue glow on his hands.

"Who is this guy?" Hare gagged at the sight. "How can he do all that?"

Doing a back flip in mid air while dropping, Silver tore their weapons out of their hands and left them hovering above them out of their reach. It took only a few moments to disarm them all, their weapons, swords and rifles ripped from them.

"Are you going to carry on or do you guys know when you're outclassed?" Silver asked, turning to the stunned police. With something of a furrowed brow he dispersed the weapons above, scattering them across a wide distance; some of them flying as far as the buildings on the far side of the depot.

"Now get lost."

Needing no encouragement after that display, the police turned and ran.

Silver turned away with a smug grin on his face. The ramp from the Typhoon was lowered and Amy came jogging down.

"Wow…" Was all she managed. "How… how did you do that?" Silver simply shrugged.

"I just do. It's just something I've been able to do for years." He glanced to his side towards one of the jagged pieces of metal lying around from the destroyed mounted turrets. Its outline glowed as it moved up and hovered before Silver's hand. "In fact I'm surprised most others can't do it."

He let the piece drop before he walked away.

"Thanks for the ride but I've really got to get going." Amy moved to stop him but paused. She watched Silver walk away before turning away.

He was a nice kid and she hated having to let him go when the situation seemed to be going straight to hell but he had already proven that he could handle himself well enough.

Without warning there was a short flash as one of Void's one-dimensional dates opened up in the air before her.

"Hey Amy." Sonic declared walking out, waving at her. He then paused at the sight of the devastation scattered around. "Woah… what happened here?" Blaze and Miles followed him out with Void beside them.

"Try not to move around too much." He told them, turning back towards his gate. "As soon as the expedition is organized Queen Illumina will be arriving in this dimension herself.

It would help if I knew where you guys were for that." Sonic gave a him a mock salute and an ironic smile.

"We'll try but no promises." He replied. Void made a frown before turning to Blaze.

"Try to keep them under control until I get back." He told her. The feline forged her own smile.

"No promises." She repeated. Void threw his arms up in exasperation before turning to leave; entering the gate with it closing after him.

"So, anything interesting happen while we were gone?" The blue hedgehog asked, gesturing with both arms to the shattered pieces around him.

"Got a little hairy for a while." She replied. "But we had some help." The pink hedgehog glanced back towards Silver who was still walking away. "Little guy's certainly stronger than he looks."

"He did all this?" Sonic asked incredulously. "Woah… dude you rock!" He called over waving an arm up high.

Silver stopped and looked back, his hand half raised in a wave when he froze; a stunned expression passing over his face. It was a look of pure shock.

"Hey what's his problem?" Sonic asked blinking in confusion.

The shocked expression on Silver's face slowly but surely began to twist, morphing from awe to unmistakable hate. His teeth were bared, his fists clenched and eyes alive with an angry fire.

"You…" He breathed and started towards them.

"Do I know you?" Sonic asked.

Screaming in rage, Silver reached down and suddenly all the broken twisted pieces of ragged metal tore into the air before flying directly at the blue hedgehog.

"What the hell?!" Sonic demanded, side stepping just quickly enough to avoid being impaled.

"Your actions will condemn all of us to a never ending nightmare!" Silver howled, reaching back and gesturing to one of the pipe which was caught in the ground. Heaving his hand up, he telekinetically lifted the giant metallic barrel up; its shadow casting itself over the stunned blue hedgehog.

"For the sake of the future..." Silver stated through clenched teeth. "The Iblis Trigger must die!"


	50. Episode 25, part 2

(fight scene should be read while listening to Superstar by Saliva)

-

* * *

Mephiles was now completely charged up. He would need no further energy for some time. Now he had some time to find some entertainment.

There was a loud reaching sound followed by an explosion that rocked the ground, bellowing flames rising up into the air with smoke reaching high. Mephiles managed a grin showing his jagged teeth.

Apparently the entertainment had found him.

"Hey what is your problem?!" Sonic demanded, racing for his life as Silver came after him; jagged pieces of metal thrown telekinetically after him.

"Just shut up and die!" The white hedgehog declared, throwing his arms down. The circles on the back of his hand glowed and instantly parts of the ground broke open, becoming deadly projectiles that soured after Sonic like missiles.

It was only utilisation his advantage of speed that Sonic managed to avoid being crushed into the ground.

"Dude you are asking for it!" Sonic snapped, about facing and darting underneath a pipe. Moving in close the blue hedgehog tried to land a punch before he got close, Silver held up a hand and Sonic came to a sudden stop; his body held rigid in mid air.

"Hey what the hell?" The blue hedgehog cried, trying to wriggle himself loose.

His efforts were futile. He hung there, suspended along with half a dozen

Silver brought his hands back, his muscle tensing before dragging his arms sharply to his right. The action propelled the blue hedgehog through the air to soar towards a large erect metallic tanker. It had several unrecognisable icons painted across its front and while he couldn't read it Sonic knew a warning sign when he saw one.

"Chaos Control!" He declared and instantly his body vanished into the warp. The flying pieces of debris going along with him impacted the tanker which exploded on contact; blowing apart in a fire storm.

"That won't help you!" Silver declared shielding his eyes from the explosion with the back of his arm. Glaring directly up, he reached up with his free hand. A moment later Sonic came charging out of the warp with a fist drawn back.

Ready for the attack, Silver tossed a loose pipe up into the air that struck Sonic full in the face; the impact sending him arching up until he crashed into the ground.

"Sonic!" Amy declared, brandishing her hammer before she charged straight at Silver. "Leave him alone!" The white hedgehog whipped around and with the marks on his hands glowing; he held her rigid in the air with telekinesis.

"There's too much at stake here, stay out of it!" He told her angrily, before her tossed her back across the depot towards the Typhoon. She landed unceremoniously beside Blaze.

The feline was watching the battle with a disconcerting look on her face, one hand held to her chin as she stood there deep in thought. This new hedgehog had telekinetic skills that surpassed her own. She could fight well enough using the psychic ability but this hedgehog, who seemed a whole two years younger than she, was pulling of tricks and techniques she could only dream of.

He had interacted physically and psychic fighting styles in one, using his mind to enhance the damage his punches could do.

Catching Sonic using telekinesis, Silver brought his fist back before throwing it forward into his stomach; letting loose a telekinetic pulse at the same instant.

"Ah crap!" Sonic ended up blurting out as he as flung clear across the depot, soaring back towards the reptilian city.

Silver paused for a moment to catch his breath before he started running off after him. In mid stride he leapt into the air using his telekinesis to propel himself through the air at tremendous speed.

"Not bad." Blaze muttered with a smile. Whoever this guy was he was no armature, at least in fighting ability. But the way he fought, so desperately, as everything depended on him winning, showed a lack of maturity that often accompanied the very young of heart.

"Come on." He started, motioning for Amy to get back up. "We have to go after them." Even before Amy could rise to her feet the feline started running, hoping to catch up with them before either one of them killed the other.

Unable to control his direction, Sonic ending up punching through several walls; tumbling past alarmed reptilians before crashing head first into a stand on a street corner; papers flying everywhere.

Sitting back up with a alien newspaper on his head, sonic had just enough time to see Silver coming at right at him.

Somersaulting back to his feet Sonic darted off to the side down a side street, darting through several oncoming vehicles.

"Oh no you don't!" Silver called out, reaching forward. Dozens of vehicles froze where they were before being lifted up by invisible hands and hurled as projectiles; some still with people inside.

"Are you nuts?" Sonic asked, about facing and coming straight at them. Jumping forward onto the tumbling cars, laying his hand on them. The people inside disappeared along with him as he teleported them out of danger with Chaos Control, remerging out of the warp a safe distance away.

Sonic remerged out of the teleportation on a rooftop and paused for a moment to catch his breath. He couldn't see Silver anywhere. Maybe he'd lost him.

Suddenly the white hedgehog came flew up in front of him; flying high into the air before unleashing a powerful psychic blast that knocked Sonic clear across the roof to the far side.

Grabbing the ledge in time Sonic saved himself from a very long drop. Struggling to pull himself back up, he watched as Silver moved to stand over him.

"Don't suppose you'd like to discus this grievance over breakfast?" Sonic asked with a grim smile.

"I'm not hungry." Silver replied; raising his hand up and clenching a tight fist the marks on the back of his hand glowing. Cracks spread through the stone of the buildings roof and the part Sonic was clinging too broke off.

The blue hedgehog fell, tumbling against the side of the building before he eventually got his footing, using the traction to start running vertically downward.

"If this is your idea of help, Prometheus, then what the hell are you on?" He called out, before leaping off the side of a building. Grabbing a suspended pole he swung around to send himself flying back up to the rooftops.

Silver raced to the edge but by the time he got there Sonic had disappeared.

"Damn it." He hissed, glancing from side to side trying to catch as glimpse of his enemy.

Before he could react, Sonic came flying out of a Chaos Control warp in front of him with a fist drawn back. Silver didn't have any time to react, the blow struck him in the stomach like a war hammer. He gagged forward, spraying a mixture of saliva and blood.

Sonic didn't stop there, he knew Silver could unleash his telekinetic powers with a mere thought. Powering on through he sent a blur of intensely fast kicks and punches into Silver's body, battering him left and right before bringing his hands together and slamming them down into his opponent back.

The blow sent Silver crashing down through the roof of the building, crashing through several floors before landing with an echoing thud in the lobby.

Sonic dropped down through the hole in the building and landed next to the white hedgehog.

"Look, if you wanna fight that's fine but at least tell me why." He remarked. Slowly at first, Silver began to move, managing to push himself up. His arms twitching, he paused long enough to cough up some blood.

Then without warning, he glared up at Sonic and the marks on his arms started glowing. Reacting like lightning, Sonic dodged the piece of fallen rubble that was telepathically thrown at him.

"Because of you billions of people are going to die." The white hedgehog snapped, physically rushing Sonic in his rage. Unable to match the blue hedgehog in speed, he missed and Sonic was table to dodge around him and use his own momentum to crash his head into a wall.

Reeling from the blow, Silver staggered back a few steps holding a bleeding nose.

"Kid, I have no idea what you are…" Sonic began but was cut off when Silver tore up a piece of debris and flung it at him. This one caught the blue hedgehog off guard and the impact sent him flying back across the lobby.

"I am not a kid!" The white hedgehog snapped, reaching up to point his palms towards the ceiling. "My name is Silver!" The marks glowed and cracked started spreading across the roof, parts of the stonework falling away as the entire building started to come down. Sonic shook some of the senses back to himself in time to dodge a massive falling slab.

Silver actually trying to bring the entire building down on top of them both! Already Sonic could feel the ground beneath their feet shaking. Cracks were spreading throughout the walls and despite the alarmed calls from the reptilians here, Silver kept going. This guy was a fanatic. He was determined to kill Sonic at any price, even if that meant crushing innocents to get to him.

Somersaulting back to his feet, Sonic raced at Silver. The white hedgehog readied a barrage of debris to stop him but Sonic blasted through it and tackled the white hedgehog to the ground.

"Chaos Control!"

The two hedgehogs vanished into the midst of a green flash the tremor threatening to bring the building down stopped.

Teleporting them outside several streets away, Sonic made sure Silver caught the rough end of the trip; throwing him head first through a window of a store.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" The blue hedgehog demanded. Silver just got back up, whirling around and throwing his palm forward. The broken pieces of glass from the window rose up like floating daggers, before flying at Sonic.

"I'll do whatever it takes to put you in the ground!" Silver declared as Sonic hit the deck, rolling out of the way as the shards soared down trying to hit him.

"Dude, I've never even seen you before!" Sonic protested by the white hedgehog was not listening. One of the shards lanced through Sonic's quills, snipping one of them off. As the blue strand floated to the ground, the hedgehog looked down at it with a sudden growing anger.

"Alright… now you've gone and done it." With unrivalled speed he shot at Silver. "Nobody touches the 'do'!" Again Sonic's feet proved to be faster than Silver's mind. Unable to enact an attack the white hedgehog could not defend himself from the punch.

Flying past, Sonic circled around before attacking again; this time with a kick across the stomach.

Again and again the pattern repeated, Sonic flying past Silver dealing damage before coming back for another run; all of it happening so fast Silver couldn't do anything to stop him.

"If this is as fast as you can go then you've in trouble." Sonic remarked, racing past hammering a fist into Silver's back, causing the white hedgehog to stagger forward a few steps.

Silver adjusted his footing, arched his finger and glared.

"I don't have to be as fast as you." He snarled. "I just have to be smarter." The ground in front of the charging blue hedgehog cracked and broke up.

Sonic came to a sudden stop and that single instant was all Silver needed.

"Oh dear." Sonic muttered.

Grinning, Silver brought his hands back before throwing them forward; the action sending Sonic rocketing backwards to crash through several walls and slid across the ground until he rolled to a stop. He was covered in cuts and his quills were full of brick dust.

Before he had a chance to rise, Silver came flying at him; letting out a loud yell as he flung himself through the air with a fist drawn back.

Acting on pure instinct, Sonic scrambled to his feet and brought his leg around to meet the attack with his all his might.

The two blows met in mid air and the power exchange behind them shook the ground, windows rattled and people lot their footing all over the city.

Sonic and Silver were thrown back from one another, both impacting against a wall before sliding down to the ground.

Neither of them got up immediately afterward.

Silver was the first to move. Blood was running from one corner of his mouth and his left arm felt numb but still he tried to push himself back up to his feet.

The mission, it had to be finished.

Sonic moved next, pulling himself up to a sitting position.

"I'll admit, you're pretty good." He announced. "It was a mistake not to take you seriously before. If I had perhaps I wouldn't be in such bad shape." Sonic extended a hand forward. "Look, can't we call this a draw? I really have places to be."

"I'll not stop." Silver muttered, rising onto shaky legs. "For the sake of the future I will not stop!"

Sonic let out a small groan before moving to his feet, readying himself into a fighting stance.

The hammer came down like a clap of thunder, striking the ground with a deafening boom. The shockwave it produced hit the two hedgehogs and unable to keep themselves upright they were sent rolling across the ground and onto their backs.

Too weak from the fight to move anymore, Silver just lay there.

"Alright that's enough!" Blaze stated marching between them, resting her hammer hilt over one shoulder.

Amy followed her closely with an annoyed expression on her face. Just where had Blaze gotten a great hammer like that? It made hers look obsolete.

Silver wiped the blood leaking from the side of his mouth away from the back of his hand before glaring up. When he saw Blaze his defensive attitude disappeared in an instant, any and all anger he retained going with it.

"Miss Blaze?" He asked with awe clear in his eyes. "No… you… you're…" He tried to get up but the strength in his arms gave way and he collapsed onto his chin. "You… you're still alive in this time!"

Blaze looked down at him and when she beheld his face close up, a strange feeling came over her. It was like seeing someone close or remembering the face of an old friend but where the feeling came from she couldn't say.

Sonic hoisted himself back up, cracking his neck and approaching but still keeping outside of striking distance from Silver.

"This guy a friend of yours?" He asked.

Blaze sheathed her hammer and knelt down beside the white hedgehog and looked him directly in the eye. Silver stared back with an unblinking stare. Blaze was silent for a moment, before a smile spread itself over her face.

"Yes." She stated. "He is." Then she sharply drew her hand back and smacked Silver on the back of the head. Silver's eyes jumped in shock before he slid to the ground unconscious.

"Hey what…" Amy started looking alarmed. Blaze picked the unconscious white hedgehog up and lent him over her shoulder.

"Help me get him back to your ship." She started.

From high above on the very tip of a radio tower, a dark observer watched them. Mephiles found this situation very amusing. It had to be another aspect of fate that Silver would find the younger version of his precious teacher.

When she had died before him he had become so emotional, a pathetic display of tears. It had made Mephiles quite sickened that the champion of the future should be so lacklustre.

Still, he had performed well in this little duel; almost to the point were the nagging doubt that perhaps he might actually kill Sonic entered his mind. It was far too soon for that particular fight and Black Doom's own champion was not ready.

The name of this game was synchronisation. Everything, all parts of the puzzle, had to be in place and ready all at the same time.

Mephiles reached on and mentally fondled their presence with a single claw. He could sense their life force and how easy it would be to drain them, to absorb every ounce of life force in their bodies. How easy it would be to leave them lifeless husks.

But no… they would meet their appointed fates in due time and besides, the timing for their demise was off. Events had to transpire before then.

The restrictions placed upon this endeavour were frustrating but it could not be helped.

The destruction of two of their cities had relied the reptilians, delaying Silver long enough for Sonic to arrive just as Mephiles had intended. The fight had told him how well they measured against each other. Sonic had the advantage in speed and agility while his telekinetically enhanced body gave Silver the advantage in brute force. That had been close enough to the original estimate.

Mephiles stared up at the sky.

The next part of this grand and complex puzzle should be arriving any minute now and once it did, then the end was close for this planet. The Black Doom would see to that.

It was time to leave. There were other places for him to be.

Blinking once, Mephiles' body lost its stability; churning and becoming a horrible black liquid that seeped down over the metal tower before it evaporated, turning from liquid to gas. Floating up, it came together to form a dark cloud and rose higher and higher until it disappeared completely.

* * *

-

Silver, still unconscious, was dumped back inside the medical bay and this time; Chuck erected a glass dome around the bed. It was the same type of containment he had used when Sonic briefly became Dark Super Sonic. It nullified outgoing energy signature and, in theory, it would keep Silver from telekinetically affecting objects outside it.

"In theory?" Sonic asked trying not to flinch as Amy bandaged him up.

"Well before now I haven't have a chance to test it but…" Chuck began, rolling his eyes and putting a hand to his chin.

Chris activated the containment and the glass dome hummed as energy crackled through it.

"I can't believe this little guy did all this." He muttered, glancing back to Sonic and through the window to the devastated depot outside.

"Psychic power unlike anything I've ever seen." Blaze remarked. "I use it as well but this hedgehog takes it to a whole new level."

"Better prey the container works then." Chuck added as Silver began to stir. The white hedgehog pushed himself up with a loud groan; holding the back of his head.

His vision was blurred and his head ached but blinking to clear his sight he looked up.

"Hey what's with the cage?" He asked. Telekinetically he reached out trying to shatter barrier but the attempt backfired, an energy field flowing through the glass preventing him.

"Just a safety precaution so we can ask you a few questions." Chuck told him. "Like why you tried to kill Sonic here." Sonic just make a mock half salute, upsetting Amy's attempts to wrap his cuts and cruises up.

"He is the one responsible!" Silver snapped, almost leaping out of bed and charging at the glass. "It's all his fault!" He tried to smash a fist on the side of the glass but the energy travelled through it sent him reeling backwards onto the floor.

Blaze knelt down and looked him directly into his angry eyes.

"Tell us… why?" She asked him.

The white hedgehog's expression softened dramatically and he looked away, folding his arms in his lap.

"I've already told you that the future I come from is a bleak and terrible place." He began. "It was devastated before I was born, the flames of Iblis cracking open planet after planet. Even the suns are being snuffed out, darkness claiming the galaxy bit by bit." He bit his bottom lip.

"Life for everyone is nothing but a struggle. We live without hope, our only thought on how to survive."

Blaze stood up sharply, sudden fear alive in her eyes.

"Ragnarok." She muttered. Silver nodded once.

"The people who raised me call it that." He replied. "Everyone else calls the event the Iblis Triggering." Sonic sat up looking attentive.

"Billions have died already. Fighting Iblis is an impossibly, he's simply too powerful." Silver carried on. "Nothing we tried worked. Every world we tried to defend was destroyed and everyone on it killed.

It took use years to find the ancient Titan time machine. I couldn't waste the opportunity, not after Miss Blaze…" He hesitated.

The feline stood there in silence before a smile spread over her face.

"You know me in the future don't you?" She asked. "I die."

Clear effort on Silver's part was put not to cry but he failed and tears started flooding into his eyes.

"I tried." He cried. "I tried but he was too strong. I couldn't defeat that monster! I couldn't stop Mephiles!" He clenched a fist and flung it down hard on the ground. "I couldn't save you!"

Nobody said anything for a few moments.

"Well thanks for the tip off future boy so why not head on back to the merry old land of Oz and let us deal with it?" Hare asked coyly, his remark being exceptionally badly timed and earning him a smack on the back of the head from Bark.

"I can't! Don't you understand?" Silver demanded. "I threw myself into the past without anyway back. It was a one way trip!" He stood up. " And you're responsible." His voice was ice cold as he stared directly at the blue hedgehog. "It took years of research but we finally found out who was to blame!" He pointed a finger forward directly at him.

"You, the Iblis Trigger; Sonic the Hedgehog."

--

(Note: Yes Mephiles did exterminate millions of people, including children, simply to delay Silver. He is that evil)


	51. Episode 26, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 26: Iapetus

* * *

Space rippled and bent almost to the breaking point as the space colony ARK emerged out of its jump and settled into orbit around the planet Hydra. Acting nearly on instinct the planet's orbital defences opened fire and almost in the same instant the ARK retaliated. An intense barrage of fire struck the incoming fighter drones, sending their fleet crashing down to fall into the atmosphere.

"Jump complete." One of the fesonians manning the Ark reported. "All defensive drones eliminated, now settling into unchallenged orbit."

"Excellent." Black Doom's projection declared. "This world will be the first to bear witness to the reality of the second winter." There was a loud shunting noise and the door to the control centre swung open and Shadow moved in; the red Chaos Emerald, the gem containing the soul of Maria, in his hand.

"You're certainly a light sleeper." Black Doom remarked. "There's no need to concern yourself. Rest some more."

"I've rested long enough." Shadow stated coldly. "I want to start now."

Black Doom chuckled lightly.

"My, my aren't you the impatient one?" He unfolded his arms and moved towards the Dark hedgehog. "Very well, let us begin phase two."

Shadow was led to a section of the colony he knew all too well. It was the laboratory in which he had spent the first days of his existence, the incubation chamber where he had been created.

Years of neglect had seen it fall into disrepair and the Fesonians had not bothered to fix it up. It lay covered in a thick layer of dust and dirty, the large incubation tank in the centre of the chamber broken in half with the splintered glass lying across the floor.

"I find that repeatedly I am forced to contemplate Gerald's genius." Black Doom remarked as his projection floated across the chamber while Shadow remained at the doorway with a sombre expression on his face. "The ultimate life form ambition was an attempt to bring about the new golden age through the resurrection of the gods, the restoration of the ancient Titan Civilisation that spanned the galaxy before all other life-forms.

The civilisation which referred to me as its king."

A side door led off from the main chamber, the barrier reinforced barrage proof steel. It had been sealed for a very long time as the dust and dirt around it showed. Black Doom moved towards it and once his projection was hovering directly before the barrier, he leaned forward and uttered a single word.

"Baldur." Hearing the password through hidden audio receivers the door grunted in acceptance and began to pull itself aside. Shadow had to hold a hand over his mouth at the sudden terrible smell that flew out when the airtight seal was broken. Black Doom floated in and after a moment Shadow followed, trying not to breathe in through his nose.

The floor of the chamber beyond was wrapped in a thick collection of black vine like creeper plants, twisting and turning as they coated every surface before intertwining directly in the centre. The metal walls were hardly visible through the entanglement. Shadow had to hold a hand up through the gloom to see but when he did, he saw in a combination of horror and awe at the thing that stood directly in the centre of the room.

It was a tree. Or at least it had the shape of a tree. Its bark was jet black and intermixed in its large branches was the bulb of a flower, twice as big as himself with blood red petals curved around to form a ball.

Jagged red thorns stood out across the branches and trunk, each one curved like a talon and jagged with a serrated inner edge.

Dark leaves had sprouted beneath the massive trunk, all overlapping each other to forma short canopy that cast a dark shadow across the massive roots that spanned out beneath it

The horrid smell was coming directly from the demonic plant, a stench so powerful that Shadow couldn't care to get too close.

"What is that?" He asked, his breath coming out white. The temperature in his chamber was dramatically lower. Even the ultimate life form could not help but shiver.

"Gerald took it as a token of friendship." Black Doom replied. "It is what we will use here." Slowly he floated over and waited at the base of the grotesque plant life. Shadow hesitated briefly before moving forward himself, unable to get too close without holding his nose.

Black Doom gestured with his hand towards it and slowly the leaves moved apart to show a large mouth with wet pulsating lips; jagged teeth lining the inside. Transparent ventricles lead away from it, feeding up into the tree and towards the tower at the top.

Shadow withdrew sharply, now apprehensive. The dark hedgehog had seen creatures from Nexus itself and this was revolting to him.

"You stand on the threshold of salvation and now you waver?" Black Doom asked incredulously. "Gerald and I created this plant together. It is much a part of Project Shadow as you are. You needn't fear it."

Shadow had to press his lips together to stop himself from gagging. Swallowing his disgust he cautiously approached.

"You begin the rebirth sequence, take the Emerald and hold it in the hand of the arm baring my mark." Black Doom instructed.

The black and red hedgehog glanced down at the scar like emblem etched across his skin.

Something, some voice of reason in the back of his head, told him; warned him; shouted at him that something was very wrong.

"Now… place your arm in the mouth and the sequence can begin."

Before either of them could react, there was a sudden flash of light from behind Shadow; erupting out of nowhere. The dark hedgehog whirled around to meet the intrusion while Black Doom simply phased out, his projected form disappearing but his presence still there.

"Shadow stop!" A familiar voice declared and out of the light came the last person he expected to see. The female Echidna Tikal raced up to him, her escort the water demon Chaos liquefying into a puddle behind her before disappearing completely.

"Please, Shadow I'm begging you not to do this!" She cried hanging onto his arm.

"How did you get…" The dark hedgehog began in alarm.

"You're making a huge mistake!" She told him refusing to let go. "If you do this you'll damn Maria!"

"Damn Maria?" He repeated. "I'm saving her. I'm giving her back the life that was taken from her."

"Is that thing saving her?" Tikal asked, pointing to the disgusting plant. "Shadow don't you have any sense to know when you're being tricked?"

"This is my last chance." Shadow persisted. "Maria didn't deserve that. She was barley into her teens when they killed her. I'm writing a wrong."

"And are you certain this is what Maria wants?" Tikal asked. "To have her soul bound to that thing?"

At this Shadow lost his temper.

"And who the hell are you to tell **_ME _**what Maria wants?" He demanded. "Who gives you the right to…"

"She told me!" Tikal ended up blurting out without thinking. Shadow simply stood there with a stunned expression on his face. Realizing she had said too much Tikal quickly put a hand to her mouth.

"You mean you've been talking to her, in the afterlife?" He demanded sudden confusion coming in his eyes. "How long has this been going on?" Tikal hesitated before looking away; her face fraught with guilt.

"Ever since we first met aboard the Ark." She muttered. Shadow grit his teeth together trying not to start swearing.

"And so you see the lies that would be told you corrupt and control you." Black Doom's voice echoed into his head, now more influential than ever.

"You mean you could talk to Maria for all that time and you didn't tell me?" Acting on impulse he grabbed her but the front of her dress and held her tight. "You've been sitting on that for four years! I could have talked to her, made my peace or something." Barley restrained white fury was clear in his eyes and to Tikal's horror, the ice around his heart she had worked so hard to melt was beginning to freeze again.

"It wasn't permitted…" She started.

"Permitted?" He repeated. "And who the hell does the 'permitting'?!"

"That's not important." Tikal told him. "Please, I'm asking you not to do this. You'll doom Maria."

"And why should I listen to anything you have to say after this?" Shadow spat fuming with rage. "You lied to me Tikal." He tossed her away from him and about faced. Standing before the plant he reached his hand up and clutched the Emerald containing Maria's soul.

"Shadow don't!" She implored him but by now it was far too late. Without hesitation he sunk his arm up to the elbow into the waiting mouth.

There was a sudden loud crunch and Shadow cried out in pain, feeling serrated teeth sinking into the flesh. Blood surged down through transparent tentacles, pulsing up until it fed litre by litre into the heart of the plant.

As if suckling the Vampiric plant continuing feeding on the hedgehog, drawing out more and more of his blood.

"Shadow!" Tikal cried out, grabbing him by the free arm tying to pry him loose. Shadow simply stood there in a daze, feeling fainter and fainter as his blood left him. A strange tiredness overtook him and just when he started to see black spots the plant released its hold on him.

Shadow flew back, crashing to the floor; the fur on his arm stained red from the outline of a wound around the emblem. The Emerald sucked in, swallowed down through the plants neck before being pulled into a transparent flab of skin near the base of the flower itself. There vines and roots wrapped themselves around the stone, binding it in place before sucking it dry; its energy and the soul contained within drawn out and channelled upward.

Tikal watched in horror as the process took place and as the soul entered the flower, a loud scream of despair echoing out. Clutching his bleeding arm, Shadow hoisted himself up into a sitting position and watched.

A strange violet light began to pulse through the petals on the top of the flower and within, despite the agonizing pain in his arm Shadow could see a shape begin to form. It was small at first; the shape of a foetus inside a womb. Then it expanded outwards, growing larger and larger with each passing moment. Soon Shadow could not tell its distinct shape as it spread through the bulb, the petals pushing outwards.

Then it held rigid, the shape that of something curved into a ball; like a newborn child.

"Oh Shadow what have you done?" Tikal asked.

The dark hedgehog pulled himself up, blood dripping from the gouged wound; the mark on his arm now engraved like a scar rather than a tattoo.

"I…I have set myself on this path." He replied. "This is the end of that path and I will not stop before the abyss now." The dark hedgehog looked back at her and she had to flinch away in terror. The look on his face was that of cold distain and through his eyes, she saw directly into his heart.

The ice had now completely taken over, the warmth inside contained to the point were it was about to disappear completely. Any efforts she had made to remove it were now voided.

"How could you let this happen?" She asked.

"It is my will." A dark voice announced and the visage of Black Doom appeared, all three eyes glaring directly at her. His presence making itself known in a sudden flurry. Tikal backed out, eyes wide in fear.

As if acting on instinct, Chaos sprung out of the metal ground with outstretched claws. Shadow's dimply raised his hand and clenched a tight fist. A Chaos Spear shot forth and smashed into Tikal's defender. Chaos broke apart in a large explosion, parts of him raining down over the floor.

Tikal sank to her knees, cupping the remains of her age old friend in her hands; tears slowly filling her eyes.

The door to the lab opened and dozens of Fesonian guards rushed in.

"Throw her in the brig." Shadow told them, turning away and tending to the in jury on his arm. Tikal did not resist, she simply sat there as they applied shackles to her arms and legs and escorted her away.

"How long?" Shadow asked, ignoring her distancing sobbing cries.

"The incubation period should be swift." Black Doom replied. "The new body should take about five hours to gestate. In the meantime, I suggest you head down to the planet's surface and retrieve the final Chaos Emerald."

"I will go nowhere until Maria is reborn." The dark hedgehog told him, keeping his gaze locked upon the flower and the new body forming inside.

"You forget your position." Black Doom said sharply with an undercurrent of annoyance and frustration. "This is a process I have direct control over." He reached up with a single claw towards the flower and suddenly it shook as if trembling from the chamber's cold temperature. "I can interrupt or even abort if I so choose."

Shadow shot him a hostile sideways glance.

"Retrieve for me the last Chaos Emerald and she's all yours." Doom carried on. "But time is of the essence. Sonic and his friends are already down on the surface. You must reach the Emerald before they do."

Shadow pushed his upper lip up before he looked down at his feet. An angry hint came alive in his eyes. He snapped the fingers of his injured hand and one by one, the Chaos Emeralds warped into his presence; appearing around him like satellites. The red emerald within the tree shook for a moment before ploughing out the side and to Shadow's waiting hand.

The dark hedgehog's fur changed from black to silver for a single instant before reverting, the energy almost reaching the needed level required for Super form.

"I'll get you you're Emerald." I muttered. "But after that I never wanna see another Emerald again." He looked up sharply. "Chaos Control!"

As he and six of the emeralds disappeared in a flash of green light, Black Doom chuckled lightly.

"Don't worry Shadow, after this you won't."

* * *

--

"Guys, you're not going to believe this!" Chris declared as early warning alarms started going off throughout the Typhoon. Sonic stumbled onto the bridge, half tripping over the bandages Amy had wrapped around him. Miles was right behind him, nearly bumping into the blue hedgehog as he struggled to remove the white wrappings. "I swear it wasn't there a second ago."

Chris announced, calling them over to the console.

"What wasn't there?" Sonic asked, still trying to remove a now needless sling.

"That." Chris replied, pressing a button. With a short buzz a holographic display appeared before them. The Typhoon's long range sensors were capable of ranging a planets orbit from the ground. The aftermath of a collision had been observed and floating in amongst the wreckage of the Reptilian orbit defences was the space colony.

"The Ark?" Miles asked with wide eyes. "How the hell…"

"It's Shadow!" Sonic hissed. "He's here for the last Emerald!"

"If he gets that Emerald we're finished!" Chris muttered looking suddenly terrified.

"Dark Oak, come in Dark Oak!" The fox began reaching into his blue coat and taking out a small communications device with a screen on it. There was a short buzz of static before the reply came.

"This is Dark Oak." The synthesized voice stated but nothing appeared on screen. "I have retrieved the Emerald and..."

"Shadow is here!" Miles cut him off. "The Space Colony Ark has appeared in orbit. He'll be coming for the Emerald."

Silence endured for a moment.

"I see." Dark Oak replied eventually.

"Reinforcements are on the way, find a defensible spot and wait there." Miles told him almost cradling the communicator. "Everything is up to you now. Shadow must not get that Emerald.

"Understood, Dark Oak out." With that the communicator went silent.

"Come on, let's go!" Miles started turning to Sonic.

"What about Silver?" Chris asked. "That guy still wants to kill you and we can't hold him in that dome forever."

"Forget him, this is too important." Sonic remarked. "Bring backup, something tells me I'm going to need it!"

"There's no time to wait for it." Miles insisted. "This is a race now. If Shadow retrieves that Emerald, Black Doom will have won." Anger was clear in his voice. Sonic smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"He won't win." The hedgehog assured him. "And we'll get Cosmo back." Miles pressed his lips together as if quelling a powerful emotion. He placed his own hand on top of Sonic's in a silent thank you.

"Ok, let's go." Sonic added widening his grin. "Chaos Control!"

Dark Oak knew perfectly well that with six emeralds to back up his powers, Shadow was more than a match for him. The former general was skilled enough alright but hardly good enough to go up against that kind of power.

The ruins of the ancient titan civilisation spanned the swamps on Hydra almost completely and finding one, Dark Oak nestled himself inside and waited.

He knew well enough that he could not hide from a being that could sense the presence of Chaos Energy but it would provide him some protection long enough for help to arrive.

Above all else the final Emerald was not to fall into Black Doom's clutches. If it did then they were all doomed.

A loud screeching sound rang out and before Dark Oak could defend himself, several super powered Chaos Spear attacks came flying down through stone he was using to shield himself to strike him across the back.

Armour splintered away from his body as he collapsed to one knee. Despite the attack he kept a hold of the Emerald, pressing it tightly to his body.

"I know that Emerald is there!" A voice called out. "Black Doom wants you dead but I really have other things to do right now so simply hand it over and you can go."

"Only to be hunted down later when he unleashes Iblis?" Dark Oak demanded, pushing himself back up with a piece of his armour falling away. "The only way you're getting a hold of this Emerald is by prying it out of my cold metal hand."

Diving into the ruins centre, Dark Oak plunged into the swamp. Delving beneath the surface he dived as deep into the roots as he could. Trying to escape was probably utterly futile but he had to play for time.

Calling upon the power he had always had, the ability to control organic plant he forced the roots into a shield above himself barring the way to any who might try to follow him.

"You're wasting both my time and yours." Shadow remarked above, holding both arms out wide calling upon the six emeralds he had for power. Two balls of energy appeared beneath his outstretched fingers, crackling with power. Throwing them down, the attacks sank like depth charges into the water and once they reached a certain depth they exploded; sending shockwaves out that produced waves across the surface knocking some of the ruins over; the stone sinking.

Riding these underwater waves, Dark Oak used them to propel himself further and further away.

Reaching back, he sent one final command to the roots of the swamp. Without warned, they burst up through the water and formed themselves into a fight clenched fist.

"What on…" Shadow had just enough time to blurt out before this fist struck him; knocking him off his perched position on the top of a ruin and down into the water.

Bursting out of the water, Dark Oak took to flight trying to go as high as he could. Before he even reached any sort of altitude, an artillery strength Chaos Spear attack struck him across the side forcing him down.

Turning to react, he saw Shadow emerge out of a Chaos Control right next to him; the dark hedgehog's arms and legs folded in front of him.

"Chaos…" He started; his outline glowing blood red. "BLAST!"

The blast engulfed Dark Oak completely, subjecting him to the full brunt of its destructive power. Parts of his armour were reduced to ash instantly and his grey capes were burnt off. Sent flying he tumbled down before crashing into the stone ground beside the water below.

The shoulder pad of his left shoulder broke open upon impact as he tumbled, rolling to a stop.

Shadow dropped down to the ground nearby and walked over to the former general whose body was still trailing smoke.

"What as it you said before? Something about prying the Emerald out of your cold metal hand?" He asked smugly, clenching a fist with sparks travelling down his arm. "Well if you insist."

With Sonic and Miles already gone Knuckles, Amy, Blaze and Rouge were scrambling to make their way after them.

In the confusion, nobody was watching Silver; thinking him contained with the glass dome prison.

True his abilities could not penetrate the barrier but that did not mean the white hedgehog was without a plan. Physical contact with the glass was extremely painful but it was still just glass. It could be broken.

Silver had sat there for about several hours with his legs crossed and his eyes closed as if he were in meditation. What he was doing in fact was channelling his mind, focusing all his psychokinetic ability into his left arm. The marks on the back of that hand were glowing so brightly it dwarfed all other light sources.

Once he was ready he slowly rose to his feet and opened his yellow eyes. The outline of his left hand was glowing so brightly he cast dark shadows throughout the room. The telekinesis was enhancing the strength of his arm, turning into a battering ram. Silver could not do this multiple times. Enhancing his strength this much required a great deal of concentration and energy.

If it didn't work it would be a while before he had the strength to try again.

Drawing his arm back, Silver tensed his muscles and forced himself to think of that moment when Blaze, his Blaze, had died.

Knowing she had no chance of winning, simply to give Silver a chance at escaping to the past, she charged at Mephiles. With a simple gesture of his hand, the crystalline hedgehog tore her body apart and scorched the remains.

That gave him all the conviction he required.

Throwing his fist forward he struck the side of the glass. The pain he experienced from the energy field was nothing compared to what he had already suffered and ploughing on through, his fist shattered the glass and he tumbled forward onto the floor outside the prison.

He felt drained and tired and the lure of rest was intoxicating but straining against it, the white hedgehog pulled himself to his feet.

"I never thought I'd have to go after Shadow." Knuckles remarked as the four of them bundled out into the hanger bay where Sam Speed was waiting for them, the Conejo car he had picked up on planet Chimera perched on the top of the lowered ramp ready to move.

"He doesn't know what he's doing." Blaze stated. "Loki is the god of tricks. His lies can be sweet poison to anyone who will listen."

"Come on, let's go!" Sam waved them down as he jumped into the driver's seat. The others got inside.

"This is where the Speed king reclaims this throne!" He declared, flooring his foot against the accelerator. His sports car revved its engine before the vehicle flew out of the hanger at break neck speed.

As he passed underneath, Silver leapt from the top of the Typhoon and timing the jump just right he landed on the top of the car. Using telekinesis to soften his landing he barley made a sound and Sam carried on over the terrain, moving out to meet the rendezvous point.

"You're not getting away this time Iblis Trigger." He muttered. "I'm ending this nightmare here and now."


	52. Episode 26, part 2

Strong as he was Dark Oak was absolutely no match for Shadow. With six chaos emeralds backing him up, the dark hedgehog had far more strength. Ripping parts of his armour off, Shadow left him completely unable to defend himself but still the general would not hand over the emerald.

To end this futile argument, Shadow tore off both Dark Oak's hands and took the Emerald from him.

"Finally…" He declared holding it aloft with the other six floating around him. "I have all the Chaos Emeralds."

"Not yet you don't!" A voice declared. Shadow glanced up, just in time to see Sonic and Miles emerge out of a Chaos Control warp. Sonic swung his leg around knocking the emeralds out of orbit around Shadow. They flew a short distance before rolling to a stop at the waters edge.

"Give those back!" Shadow snarled. Sonic darted in his way and wagged a finger at him.

"I don't think so." He remarked. Shadow scowled and hand up a hand, the beginnings of a Chaos Spear attack burning between his fingers.

"Get out of my way." He barked. "I'm so close to me goal I wont let anybody stand in my way now!"

"Maria huh?" The blue hedgehog asked and Shadow faltered slightly.

"What?" Miles asked.

"Isn't it obvious buddy?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow. "Black Doom promised to revive Maria for him. That's how he recruited our dark friend here." Miles stood there with a stunned expression for a moment before his look turned hostile.

"Shadow, I never believed you of all people could be so incredibly stupid!" He shouted.

"I don't have to justify myself to any of you!" Shadow snarled. "They took Maria's life when she was only a child. Now I'm giving her life again!" He took a hostile step forward. "Now step aside or I'll kill you all!"

"In that case…" Sonic simply walked calmly up to Shadow, removing the glove on his left hand and stood there in front of him for brief silent moment. Shadow stared him down angrily.

Then without warning he slapped the dark hedgehog across the cheek with his glove. Shadow didn't even flinch; he simply stood there with his look changing to mild surprise.

"You're challenging me to a duel?" Shadow asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You and me!" Sonic told him with a large smirk. "No Chaos Emeralds. No Rings. No power ups." The dark hedgehog put his face into a scowl. "Whoever wins get those Emeralds.

People have always been trying to guess which of us is the better fighter; which of us is stronger.

And let's face it we've been wondering ourselves. It's time to put that argument to rest, right here, right now."

Shadow's eyes darted from Sonic to the Emeralds and back again. With Maria so close to being revived and Black Doom demanding those Emeralds he was hard pressed for time, but even so the thought of a one on one fight with his greatest rival to prove forever which of them was better as far too tempting. How could anyone in their right mind pass such an offer up?

"What? You chicken?" Sonic asked with a large goofy grin.

"Chicken? I'll show you chicken!" Shadow snapped. "Ok, you want a fight. I'll give you one hell of a fight!"

The blue hedgehog's grin widened and he somersaulted backwards to a safe distance. There he adopted a fighting stance, muscles tensed and ready.

Despite the injuries Dark Oak started to rise by Miles signalled him to stay down.

"This is something we should not interfere in. This is their battle."

The two hedgehogs faced each other once again on the battlefield. Shadow stared Sonic down before he set his face into a smile of his own. Tensing his muscles he brought his arms defensively forward, spreading his legs in his own adopting fighting stance.

There was a long drawn out period of silence, the only faint sound the high wind in the air.

"Bring it!" Sonic remarked, launching forward with a fist drawn back. The two hedgehogs met in mid air and the power exchange sent them both flying backwards, spiralling out of controlling. Regaining control in mid air they vaulted back over the ground striking at each other with a prolonged series of kicks.

They were moving so fast the two of them were leaving after afterimages in their wake, flashes of red and blue highlighting the power struggle.

Sonic scored a hit across Shadow's chin, forcing the dark hedgehog back and using this opening the blue hedgehog powered on through battering his opponent with a long series of punches to the gut. Shadow was knocked left and right before Sonic brought his leg back and hammered home the hardest kick he could manage.

As all his strength was in his legs Sonic's attack was so strong that it sent Shadow flying back to slam into the ground sending clouds of dust rocketing up into the sky.

The dark hedgehog did not waste any time in recovering, rebounding off the ground to summersault high into the air.

"Chaos Spear!" He declared, throwing his arm forward and unleashing the burning energy attack. Cupping his hands beside him Sonic gathered his own energy and fired his own technique.

"Sonic Wind!" The two forces of elemental power clashed in mid air, the shockwave the clash unleashed sent both hedgehogs flying backwards until they hit the dirt.

Sonic was the first up, vaulting to his feet and sprinting forward. Shadow caught his punch in one hand before hammering the other straight into the blue hedgehog's face knocking him back.

Now it was Shadow's turn to go on the offensive, smacking punch after punch against his opponent's body before smashing a head butt in. Stunned Sonic staggered back a few steps giving Shadow the time he needed to gather the energy he required. The dark hedgehog's outline glowed bright red, his eyes turning crimson as bolts of scarlet lightning burned around him.

"CHAOS…" He started. Sonic regained his wits just in time to see the energy reach its peek and ready to be unleashed. "BLAST!" Turning loose his strongest attack, Shadow hammered a fist into the ground sending out a powerful energy wave.

"Chaos Control!" Sonic shouted as quickly as he could and the single instant the energy discharge reached him he disappeared into a green flash; emerging out of the warp right above Shadow.

Curving his body into a ball he started spinning in mid air before slamming down, his spin attack striking Shadow directly on the top of his head. Unable to defend the dark hedgehog was hammered into the ground; slammed hard and pinned there. Sonic kept pouring on the speed, driving Shadow further and further down.

"Oh no, you're not getting me that easily!" The dark hedgehog snapped, slamming his own fist into the ground as hard as he could, propelling both himself and Sonic up into the air. Catching the spinning hedgehog with the other hand, Shadow tossed him like a base ball into the air. Unable to control his direction he slammed into a standing rock nearby breaking it apart.

Skating after him at high speed, Shadow darted in close as Sonic rebounded and before the blue hedgehog could react he smashed the strongest punch he could manage directly into his stomach. Sonic was thrown back clear out over the edge of the water.

Shadow knew full well that Sonic could not swim. Once in the water the dark hedgehog would have the advantage.

Before he hit the surface Sonic flipped up in mid air and spinning his entire body around he created a cyclone of moving air around himself; the water being drawn up before he used it as a spring board to send himself flying at break neck speed towards Shadow.

"How the…" Shadow managed to get out before the flying kick caught him completely by surprise. The blow knocked him off his feet and he crashed onto the ground sinking into it slightly. Sonic kept on the offensive; slamming several lightning fast punches into the dark hedgehog's stomach before bring his foot around for a kick.

Despite the beating Shadow blocked the attempt with the side of an arm. Hoping to catch him again Sonic brought his fists down and Shadow caught these as well, the two of them engaging in a desperate power struggle trying to outdo the other.

The dark hedgehog managed to regain his footing and pushed back, rising up still trying to outdo his opponent.

"Chaos…" He started, powering up for another energy discharge. Sonic cut him off right there by slamming his head into the dark hedgehog's face. Stunned Shadow staggered back and Sonic flew forward with amazing speed.

The technique from the outside looked like Sonic had simply ran past him, but he had been moving so fast that he had landed two kicks and a dozen punches in that short space of time.

Shadow however took them with ease and recovered easily, about facing and racing after the blue hedgehog. The two of them clashed together at high speed, their outlines becoming mere glowing blurs of red and blue.

Neither Miles nor Dark Oak could keep up their movements. They were so fast the naked eye was simply inefficient to observe the fight.

Sonic however managed to reach the upper hand at one point, his fist coming sharply up in an upper cut striking Shadow across the chin. The strong blow sending him reeling across the ground before he finally rolled to a stop.

Sonic dropped down and took the opportunity to catch his breath.

Shadow hoisted himself back up, dirt clinging to his quills with bits of small rock dropping from him.

"Good as ever." The blue hedgehog remarked. "Great. I don't want to win this without a challenge." Shadow pushed his way back to his feet, shaking the dirt from his body.

"You won't be winning at all." He said coldly. He raised his arms and unbuckled the golden ring attached to his left wrist with a loud metallic clinking. It fell away and clattered to the ground. It was quickly followed by the ring on the right wrist. Sonic blinked in confusion.

With his wrists freed of these restraints the dark hedgehog flexed his muscles with suddenly with a sudden surge they pumped up, becoming more chiselled and defined.

More than that however, Sonic got the sudden and undeniable impression of increased strength and energy.

With speed that surprised Sonic, Shadow flew forward so quickly it was like he was teleporting. His fist slammed into the blue hedgehog's stomach like a war hammer, the blow's shockwave allow sending Sonic rocketed backwards to crash into the water; sending a giant spray into the air.

Scrapping his fingers through the dirt to prevent himself going out too far, Sonic pushed himself up in the shallows. This stomach felt numb and the rest of his body didn't feel particular rosy either. Before he could take a moment to rest, Shadow came after him again. Unable to defend Sonic was hit by a crippling blow across the shoulders before Shadow brought his leg around in a kick that knocked the blue hedgehog back onto the land; tearing it up as he went along before hitting his head on a large rock.

"Owie, owie, owie, owie!" Sonic declared, sitting up holding his head which now had a raised red lump on the top.

Shadow came charging at him once more, slamming a fist forward.

But this time Sonic was not playing around. Not only did he catch the attack, he pushed it back matching Shadow's own strength.

"How…" Shadow asked as Sonic stood back up; their power struggle now exceeding all expectations; not only were they fighting in physical strength but their energies, the dormant chaos energy had had absorbed over the years was aroused and thrown together in a desperate struggle for supremacy.

The two of them clashed one final time before breaking apart, each of them breathing heavily and sweating intensely.

"Sonic." Miles started, glancing off to the side. The blue hedgehog followed his gaze and let out a short gawking sound in alarm. Sam Speed's Conejo car was moving across the terrain towards them, no doubt filled with the reinforcements they asked for but they did not realize that crouched on the top of their transport was the white hedgehog.

"You!" Silver snarled, seeing the blue hedgehog. Throwing his hands down Silver rocketed up flying forward using his telekinesis, knocking the car back and out of the way.

"What in tar-nation?!!!" Sam Speed declared desperately trying to keep control of the wheel.

Sonic adopted a worried expression as the white hedgehog landed nearby, murder written into each muscle on his face.

"Ah crap."

Sensing the unfolding events, Black Doom's third eye opened up.

"The three are in one space and time." He declared. "Past, present and future. This is the moment of restoration."

An event would take place at this point; that was preordained. What that event was something of a mystery.

The preparations for the ritual were not yet complete however.

The emeralds would react before they were supposed to. While a good portion of the ritual rested on the preordained, an equally important part rested with careful planning.

Black Doom did not like wild cards.

"Forget him Shadow!" He declared, sending his message directly into Shadow's mind. "Get the Chaos Emerald and get back here. Maria is almost ready to emerge."

Hearing those words, Shadow straightened up.

This battle had gone on long enough. Time was wasting. If Maria was about to be reborn then he wanted to be there.

"Look pal, this is really not the best time." Sonic started as Silver moved threatening towards him, the marks on his hands glowing. "Look I'll fight you if you want but can we like reschedule or something?"

"Reschedule?" Silver repeated baring his teeth. "This is the fate of everything we're talking about! That can not be **_rescheduled_**!!!"

While Sonic was distracted the dark hedgehog made a break for the emeralds, reaching out ready to transport himself away as soon as he had them.

Before he could reach them, Dark Oak slid into his way. His hands were gone, his armour was still falling away and his glass eye was cracked by he stood there like an impassable wall.

"If you want these Emeralds…" The former general began adopting a fighting stance despite the lack of hands. "Then you're going to have to go through me to get them!"

Shadow snarled angrily.

"Easily done!"

He leapt at the General with a flying kick and in his weakened state Dark Oak was incapable of defending himself from it.

He was knocked backwards to crash onto the ground in amidst the emeralds with a loud thud.

Hurling his projectiles like baseballs, Silver tried to crush Sonic underneath them. The blue hedgehog gulped before darting out of the way.

"Silver that's enough!" Amy shouted pulling herself out of Sam's car with Blaze close behind her. "Stop it. Leave him alone!"

The white hedgehog did not listen, he continued trying to crush Sonic underneath the large lumps of stone he ripped out of the ground.

"Sonic! The Emeralds!" Miles called out. Sonic glanced back over his shoulder even as Silver was telekinetically ripping a piece of iron ore from out of the ground; wielding it above his head like a sword.

"Ah, you bastard!" The blue hedgehog declared about facing and running at Shadow.

"Get back here!" Silver declared, telekinetically flying after him with his boulder sized weapons at the ready.

Shadow glanced back and yet as all three hedgehogs met in the centre of the Chaos Emeralds, something happened.

"No! Not now!" Black Doom cried out but his protests did little to stop it.

All seven Chaos Emeralds started glowing, activating one after the other. Then in a single flash of blinding light their collective power was unleashed all at once.

Unable to see, Silver dropped his boulders and had to cover his eyes at the intensity.

Having to shield their eyes Shadow and Silver could not see as Dark Oak, the centre of the emeralds; was bathed in the light.

Sonic, gazing through the gaps in his fingers watched as the former general hovered there, arms out spread as if accepting the embrace of someone close.

"Oh it's so beautiful." Dark Oak whispered. "It doesn't hurt anymore…" Sonic lowered his arms and watched in stunned awe as parts of the general's armour started to crack. His feet started breaking off, followed by the horns on his head and the shoulder pads. Crossing his arms in front of himself and bringing his knees up; cracks running all over his metal exterior. "I'm coming home…"

"It's… its actually happening." Miles gasped.

"Happening? What's happening?" Sonic demanded looking back. Miles didn't reply; the young fox simply stood there with a wide grin on his face.

Bathed in the light of the emeralds Dark Oak appeared like a newborn child. Just as his armour neared the breaking point; the glow intensified one final time as Dark Oak spread his arms and legs out, his metallic façade breaking open.

The entire armour shattered at once, parts of it flying off and turning to ash in mid air.

Sonic had seen this happen once before when Dark Oak had been working for Krish, his armour broke open to reveal the hideous mass inside. A deformed creature warped by years of imprisonment within Nexus.

This time the form was considerably different.

Two large golden angelic wings spread out either side, each feather gleaming brightly in the light. The body was humanoid with silky, faint purple skin and cloven hands; two large fingers and a thumb. The ears were pointed and the hair behind them was snow white and long, reaching down past the waist.

A pair of dark oval shaped eyes opened, showing that they were dark blue almost a black with a star like gleam to them.

His face was almost completely circular with wide eyes and no nose. Having seen enough Seedians at that Tribunal meeting, Sonic knew instantly that one of their kind was standing before him.

"Dark Oak is from Maginaryworld?" he asked.

"That's not my name." The angelic being stated. "I remember now." He spread his arms and wings out wide as if to accept the light. "My name… I know my name." Tears flooded into his eyes and coursed down each the side of his face. "My family… I remember them… oh how could I have forgotten so much?"

"Well?" Miles asked. "Who are you?"

The angel like being straightened his back before turning to face Shadow, tears still rolling down his cheeks but a sudden fixed determination added to them.

"My name… my name is Iapetus! I am the Titan of Light!!!"

His wings flew up high above his head, spreading out wide trailing a few golden feathers.

"Black Doom! I know you're watching. I'm free now! I remember it all! I am me again!"

In a wild whirl he turned on Shadow and extended a hand forward his three fingers arched wide. Shadow didn't have enough time to react.

Iapetus, the first of the restored Titans, soured at him with an outstretched hand. He grabbed Shadow by the shoulder and pinning him to the ground.

"Get off me!" Shadow snarled. The dark hedgehog lashed out with a series of kicks. Each one made contact but the Titan didn't even budge. His body was so sturdy as like a rock, completely unhurtable.

Iapetus ignored his curses and studied the mark on his arm and the engraved scar around it.

"By all rights I should let this mark damn your soul." He remarked, laying his free hand down upon it. "But I'll give you a chance to save yourself." Shadow suddenly cried out in pain as a deep golden glow passed down the Titan's arm and into the mark itself; its outline highlighted brightly. "I'm not doing this because I like you. I'm doing this in repayment. If you had not brought the Emeralds here I may never had regained what I lost.

This is my thanks." He withdrew his hand revealing that the scar around the mark had healed completely. The mark itself was still there but its outline had grown translucent as if it was fading away.

Timing it just right, Shadow landed the strongest kick he could manage into Iapetus' stomach. This blow did force the Titan off him and as soon as he was loose he went for the Emeralds.

"That doesn't not mean however I am going to permit you to do whatever you want." Iapetus remarked, reaching up high and clenching a tight fist. As Shadow neared the Emeralds, a sheet of rock flew up blocking his path. The dark hedgehog slammed into this at break neck speed, impeding himself up to the ears in it.

Shadow pushed himself out of it, shaking the dirt out of his quills.

"You weren't this strong before." He stated coldly.

"I was once." Iapetus told him. "And now I am once more." Shadow growled and vanished into the midst of a Chaos Control warp. Before Iapetus could stop him he emerged directly in the centre of the Emeralds, engulfing himself and the jewels in a green glow as he attempted to teleport himself and his bounty away.

"You cheating little..!" Sonic said, swearing after that and rushing forward as fast as he could go. Without evening thinking he slammed into Shadow head first at the exact instant the dark hedgehog initiated Chaos Control. The two hedgehogs and the seven emeralds blurred like a mirage before vanished, disappearing completely.


	53. Episode 27, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 27: Maria Reborn

* * *

-

Shadow wasted no time.

The very moment they emerged from the warp, his hand arched around sparking with elemental power before unleashing the blast directly in Sonic's face. With no time to defend himself the blue hedgehog was struck by its full force and sent rocketing back over the metal floor of the Ark's observation room to slam hard into a wall.

The blue hedgehog collapsed to the floor, his left arm twitching. Shadow dropped to his knees out of breath, sweat dripping from his face onto the floor.

As the blue hedgehog tried to get back up, the door to the observation room opened up and dozens of Confederation soldiers charged in, all armed with plasma swords that burned with a purple energy. Quickly they surrounded the blue hedgehog, one pinning him to the floor with his foot, sword held over his back.

"No." Shadow told them, getting back up with all seven Chaos Emeralds around him. "He is not to be harmed."

The Confederation solider glanced up sharply but did not remove the tip of his sparking weapon away from Sonic's back.

"The Black Doom commands…." He started. Not in the mood to be argued with, Shadow held up his hand and fired a warning shot straight into the ground between the Fesonian's feet.

"This is my colony and you are my crew. Touch him and I will roast you alive." With a power source as infinite as the seven Chaos Emeralds he more than capable of carrying out his threat.

Clearly showing reluctance the amphibious humanoid reptile withdrew his sword.

"Can't imagine you doing me any favours." Sonic muttered into the floor.

"I'm not." Shadow replied. "I simply want you to witness the rebirth of Maria as well. Perhaps then you'll understand what drives me." The dark hedgehog shot a glance up towards the soldiers. "Bind his arms and legs, but do not hurt him."

They grudgingly complied and electronic cuffs that placed around the hedgehog's ankles and wrists, denying him the leg room necessary to achieve super speed. All he could do was hobble forward step by step.

"Dude this is not dignified." Sonic remarked, hoping along while escorted by four Confederation soldiers.

"You've endured worse now be quiet." The dark hedgehog remarked and that as the end of it.

Sonic was led through the space colony into its inner chambers with Shadow leading, the emeralds in orbit around him. Sonic knew that if he could just get on and the use Chaos Control to transport it himself and it away, then whatever insane plot was behind all this would fail.

Shadow however anticipated that Sonic would do something like that and kept the emeralds in front of himself; making his own body a barrier between Sonic and the Emeralds.

Reaching the laboratory, Shadow stepped aside and let Sonic enter first.

"Aw dude, who cut the cheese?" The blue hedgehog complained at the smell, turning his head away from it in disgust.

"Get in there." Shadow told him, kicking him in.

Waiting for them before the tree where Maria was about to be reborn were several more of the Fesonian soldiers holding another at gunpoint.

"What is she doing here?" Shadow demanded, trying not to look at Tikal. The female Echidna merely stood there looking down at her feet.

"I merely thought she should witness this moment as well." Black Doom replied, before his eyes were drawn to the blue hedgehog.

"I'm guessing you must be the Black Doom." Sonic remarked giving the projection a hard long stare.

Black Doom hovered nearer.

"So we meet at last, Sonic the hedgehog, I must say for someone with your reputation, you're certainly shorter than I imagined."

"And you're a great dealer uglier than imagined." Sonic retorted with a grin. "Those Seedrians almost went through the roof when they learnt you were back." Black Doom blinked all three eyes at once.

"Oh they did, did they?" His tone sounded amused and quite satisfied. "Tell me, just how are those displaced fools holding out? It's been such a long time since I had a chat with Queen Illumina."

"I can imagine, Cronos." The blue hedgehog said, stating a name that Black Doom had not gone by for many years.

"Cronos, the brother of Rhea and the son of Uranos is dead." Black Doom told him sternly. "He died when his own son betrayed him and the rest of his family left him to rot. All that is left is the Black Doom." He jabbed a finger forward but the transparent tip passed through Sonic's body. "And now that I have the seven Chaos Emeralds, the time of my return and the return of all else they wronged, will be at hand."

"Enough of this." Shadow remarked sourly. "Where's Maria?" Black Doom's third eye looked directly at the dark hedgehog.

"Ah yes, of course. You have fulfilled your end of our contract and now it is my turn. Her gestation period should be almost over." He floated aside and looked towards the plant. The glow had reached its peek. "Now is the time to finish the process."

Quickly he hovered before the dark tree and spread his arms out wide. Sparks of purple lightning burned from the tips of his claws and shot across the distance and travelled up the trunk and into the floor; the glow changing from green to blood red.

"Now is the time little soul, breathe once more; realise your new life." Black Doom declared. "Let your heart beat again, let the blood flow around your veins. Feel the power surging through your body and soul.

I command you! LIVE!" The glow turned into a piercing light that shot through the folds in the petals like pure beams, so bright it was hard to look at. A cloud of thick white mist ballooned up from the base of the tree, covering the floor.

Then the light died away and Shadow watched, memorised as the flower began to bloom, the petals folding back and bulb in the centre cracking open like an egg and the form inside spreading itself out.

"What…" Shadow began as the form rose up. The shape was distinctly that of a mobian hedgehog, a female, completely naked.

Its quills were long and slender in their fused clumps that reached in length down the back to the waist with two curtains hanging either side. The ears were erect with a tapering almost sharp edge to the tips. The body was sleek and streamlined as if purpose built to be athletic.

"Oh… naked chick." Sonic remarked with something of a growing interest in his face.

Shadow ignored him and moved forward, peering through the mist to get a better look.

The fur was like his, dark black with and the outer edges of the quills and the head fur blood red. It stood with its back to him, steam gently rising from its body.

Slowly its head turned around so it stared directly at him. Its eyes were glowing an emerald green and lips spread in a thick sneer that showed a row of shark like sharp teeth. Shadow just stood there staring in horror at it. Even in another form, he recognised Maria.

Her soul was within this body… but she was not the one in control.

"Don't tell me you're disappointed Shadow." Black Doom sighed from the sidelines widening his third eye.

The new hedgehog slowly stepped down from the dying bulb, reaching the floor but never once did it take its eyes off him.

"I fulfilled your request. Your dear Maria's soul has been returned to the realm of the living."

"What the hell have you done to her?!" Shadow demanded whirling around to confront Black Doom head on.

"It's not what I've done Shadow." The three eyed demon replied callously. "Your genetic contribution has given her this shape.

The body she originally wore has long since been buried." The floating being explained waving its claws aside. "Decaying and rotting away for more than fifty years. It is now merely a collection of bones and an unsuitable vessel for her soul to inhabit." Shadow stared back at the new creation as it chuckled evilly.

The sadistic expression that sickened Shadow refused to leave her face as she stared right back at him.

"I had to start from scratch and forge another body." Black Doom carried on. "But I reasoned why should I waste my time with such a flimsy human vessel?

This is a vessel far more resilient than the last, durable and not hindered by the terminal illness that threatened her human life.

This form is based of your design, you'll be glad to hear, to make it tremendously powerful." Shadow found himself unable to move, the shock rendering him paralyzed.

"And this what you asked for?" Sonic asked. Shadow just shook his head.

"No… this isn't… this isn't what I asked for!"

Black Doom let his head roll back and he laughed out load, the sound a hideously evil noise that sent a river of anger flooding through the dark hedgehog.

"Oh Shadow, I had feared from the very start that some of Gerald's intelligence might have been endowed into your mind upon your creation." The projection hovered higher as if to tower over them all. "But you have showed me that my fears were null and void. You have been an excellent servant."

"Servant?" Shadow demanded.

"You have brought all seven Chaos Emeralds to be far sooner than I expected." Black Doom carried on. "True the restoration of Iapetus was not desired but it matters little now. You have spread the news of my coming across the galaxy and delivered the Iblis Trigger into my hands."

Sonic shot Shadow a sideways glance.

"Thanks." He remarked sarcastically.

"You're the Iblis Trigger?" Shadow demanded whirling around. "But he told me…" Even before he finished his sentence the cruel blade of ironic betrayal was twisting itself in his back and he trailed off, realising now that he had been duped.

"You have served the coming rebirth of the Golden Age of the Titans well." Black Doom laughed. "But your services are no longer required. Now please stand aside." The projection turned to the new hedgehog standing there waiting. "Maria, my dear, end this threat to my return. Destroy the Iblis Trigger."

The female hedgehog looked up at Black Doom before giving a short bow.

"As you command, master." She stated and Shadow stood there in horror as he recognised the voice. There was no question now for that was the voice of the only human who had treated him like a person.

"I warned you." Tikal whispered, keeping her eyes on the floor.

Surging emotions built through Shadow. There was guilt, despair and grief but for the moment at least they were overridden by another emotion.

Anger.

Rage in its purest form was surging through his veins like fire.

Black Doom had tricked him. Had lied to him. Had cheated him. But the most damning thing of all… beyond all others… Black Doom had defiled everything he had held dear

He had defiled the Ark. He had defiled the memory of the people who died here but more than that, he had defiled the body and soul of Maria.

Without hesitation he stood in the way as the reborn Maria moved towards Sonic.

"I'm warning you." He stated sharply, raising a hand with the sparks of a Chaos Spear attack burning. "Back off."

Black Doom laughed again.

"Of please Shadow. You and I both know you wouldn't raise a hand to hurt your precious Maria."

Shadow growled and let the ball of energy form between his fingers.

"Want to bet?" He asked, pushing it forward towards Maria. The reborn hedgehog simply stood there with the same sadistic expression.

"You're bluffing." Black Doom replied confidentially. "Go ahead. If you're going to try and kill your adopted sister then let's see it." Maria moved forward. Shadow banishing the energy as if he were going to fire it, his muscles tensed and teeth bared.

Black Doom however was right. Shadow couldn't do it. He couldn't fire one of his most destructive attacks at Maria.

It simply was not in him. Growling in frustration, he lowered his arm the energy dissipating.

Black Doom laughed again.

"Don't feel bad Shadow. You see, even if you fired your attack it wouldn't have had any affect." Maria widened his grin and spread her arms out wide, her own energy crackling down her arms and into his hands. It built to a peak between her fingers before she fired two red versions of the Chaos Spear both right and left; crashing into the walls doing tremendous damage; melting the metal into dripping puddles.

"Her body was based on your design but improved beyond the original parameters. You are the last prototype. The 1.1 version. She is the 1.2."

Instantly the Fesonian soldiers backed off, leaving the two captives and Shadow alone before the naked hedgehog. They left the chamber and as soon as they had gone the door slammed shut.

"My dear, kill the blue one and the Echidna but try not to hurt Shadow too much, I still need him alive." Black Doom remarked. "He won't be in any condition to fight back anyway." He pointed at the dark hedgehog and the semi-transparent mark on his arm lit up.

Shadow cried out in pain, grasping his arm and collapsing to his knees. Pain, unimaginable pain, was spreading through his body like wild fire. Running through his veins was a powerful poison, released by the command of its master, incapacitating the body and inflicting more pain that was imaginable.

Shadow had built up defences to prevent himself from feeling pain, both mental and physical but his crashed through all of those in an instant and tears began to flow down his cheeks.

"Have fun my dear." Black Doom remarked evilly before fading away.

"Ok, I've had enough." Sonic stated flatly and he held out his arms in front of himself. Using his finely tuned agility he sent super sonic rippled through his body, weakening the shackles at the molecular level. Their strength dissipated in seconds and they broke apart, clattering to the floor.

The shackles on his ankles were removed just as easily.

"Just so we're clear, I could have done what at any time." He said, stepping forward in front of Shadow to become the barrier between him and Maria. "Naked glory or not, I've never had reservations about fighting girls."

Maria's grin widened and she gestured with her hand towards the tree. With a sudden churn, the seven Chaos Emeralds there flew up and into orbit around her. Clenching both fists, she called upon their body and absorbed their energy.

Her quills went jagged before changing from jet black to become golden with blood red streaks across each quill. The green eyes glowed brightly before turning to a crimson. Energy crackled all around her as clothes appeared on her body; sleek Greek style armour shoulder pads with a loose white shirt and blue pants.

Her entire body was surrounded by a powerful golden glow as she achieved her super form.

"Ok." Sonic remarked with a nervous smile. "NOW I have reservations about fighting girls."

"Too bad." Maria remarked, before flying forward at speed that denied explanation and hammering a fist directly into Sonic's stomach. The blue hedgehog was sent flying back by the blow until he slammed into the wall sinking into the metal as it bent.

Before anyone could react, Maria pointed a hand directly at Tikal and energy crackled down her arm.

"No, stop!" Shadow called back despite the pain but she ignored him and fired forth her own version of the Chaos Spear attack. The female echidna could not move out of the way in time and the blast hit her full face.

It took every ounce of will in his body but ignoring the pain, Shadow scrambled to his feet and rushed to Tikal's side. She was lying on the floor with cuts all over her body down her arms and legs, blood seeping out onto the floor to form a puddle around her. She was still alive but she had been badly hurt. Her mouth was agape as she lay there struggling to breath.

Maria clasped her hand together and prepared another blast, ready to finish Sonic off. The blue hedgehog pulled himself out of the hole in the wall but got his leg stuck and could only look up in alarm as Maria's attack readied itself to be unleashed.

Before it could fire, Shadow shot forth and placed himself between the super formed hedgehog and Sonic. The pain travelling through his body was so unbearable he was having trouble standing up

"Go, take Tikal and get out of here." He snapped.

"Shadow you can't handle her on your own." Sonic told him.

"GO!" Shadow hissed over his shoulder and his eyes shot over to the unconscious body of Tikal.

Sonic pushed his face into a frown before darting past the dark hedgehog towards Echidna.

"If you believe you're getting away you're dumber than you look." Maria muttered, her fur glowing bright gold as she unleashed her attack of burning energy at the blue hedgehog. Despite the pain flowing through his body Shadow intervened, discharging his own Chaos Spear attack that blocked her own blast giving Sonic the time to reach Tikal.

"Chaos Control!" He declared, disappearing in a short flash of green light. Maria now seemed infinitely annoyed. She turned her head to look at Shadow, the dark hedgehog was barley able to stand up. He was breathing hard with sweat running down his face before dripping off him.

"Alright Shadow, if you wanted to be first all you had to do was ask." She muttered coldly.

* * *

-

Acting the Chaos Control without really thinking of a destination or much in the way of an energy reserve, the only kind of teleportation Sonic could manage was a short range one. He transported himself away from the colony's interior to the outer rim, where he had a good view through a long set of reinforced windows of the planet Hydra below.

Tikal was not in good shape. She was still bleeding and her breathing was short and shallow. Exactly how she had gotten here didn't matter at this point. Without her mystical powers to call upon she was just as vulnerable as anyone else.

Tearing some material from his gloves, Sonic dressed her wounds as best he could. He wasn't knowledgeable in first aid but at least he'd stopped the bleeding for now.

A loud roaring sound caught his attention and glancing out through the window, the blue hedgehog spotted an object heading towards the colony from Hydra.

"Hey isn't that the Babylon Rogue's ship?" Sonic asked, peering at it through the glass. It was hawk shaped with a long curved silver hull. As it got nearer Sonic identified it as the ship belonging to the Rogues, but the way it was being flown showed they were not the ones on it. Jet was a better pilot than that.

The ship was on a collision course with the colony. Or more to the point it was on a direct collision course with them! The ship blasted forth even under intense fire from the colony's defence and sped up as it tried to crash into it.

"Oh crap!" Sonic cried out, grabbing Tikal and diving out of the way as the ship ploughed through the colony's outer wall, its bow slamming past them. Emergency sealants were thrown in place to prevent the occupants from being sucked out into the vacuum of space. Sonic had to hold onto Tikal as the ice like substance froze over the cracks.

The blue hedgehog glanced up as the side door to the ship, half embedded in the colony was thrown off by an invisible force; trailing a blue glow as it went.

A slim white hedgehog came flying out, landing directly before Sonic, with hands raised in a fighting stance

He had two long white clumps of quills stretched out behind him with a chest of five smaller ones on his head; his eyes a flaxen yellow with a thick black outline.

"You…" Silver snarled.

Sonic glanced around and realized this scene looked incredible guilty. He was standing there over the body of a beaten girl with cuts all over her body and he was wearing bloody gloves.

"Now, I know what this looks like…" Sonic remarked holding out his hands defensively.

"Enough talk. This time there will be no more interruptions." The white hedgehog shouted pointing forward. "The Iblis Trigger must die!"

* * *

-

Maria brought her leg up sharply connecting a kick to his stomach. The black and red hedgehog was thrown sharply across the room before slamming into the wall, ploughing through it and bursting out into the colony's interior.

Maria flew out after him, spiralling through the air doing an incredible acrobatic flip before smashing a punch across Shadow's face; knocking him down into the ground; ploughing him through several of the Ark's floors before a pile driving kick crash his body into the metal framework of one of the colony's structural supports.

Shadow felt blood run down his face from cuts and over his lips but any physical pain, including that from the poisonous mark his body was experiencing was nothing compared to the emotional anguish that was tearing through his body in waves. He hadn't gotten over the shock enough to even form coherent thought about the matter, all he could do was stand there reeling in pain both physical and mental as the result of his mistakes smashed punch after punch into his body.

The twisted reality finally struck home as he realized that everything Sonic had told him was true, every word and Shadow hadn't listened to any of it. Black Doom had taken everything he believed in and twisted it upside down, had warped his life into tragedy and Shadow had not only let him do it, he actually helped him.

He wasn't able to pick himself back up as she stood over him, her form aglow with power.

"If this is you're idea of a distraction Shadow then I'm disappointed." She remarked. "Is this the ultimate life form my grandfather spent so long working on? At the rate you're lasting I'll be finishing you and hunting down those others before the end of five minutes." She grabbed him around his face and lifted him up, his body as limp as a rag doll.

"Maria…" He whispered, staring at her face through the gaps in her fingers.

"What?" She asked callously.

"I'm so sorry." There was a moment when the female super hedgehog hesitated, the red glow in her eyes fading.

"What?" She repeated, the determination slipping from her face

But then the control reasserted itself and that moment past. The sadistic grin reappeared and she dropped him. As he fell, she brought her hand forward and fired an energy blast directly into his face.

Crashing down to the floor, Shadow lay there quietly smouldering. Maria walked over to him and picked him up by the scruff of his neck, letting him hang there.

"Chaos Control!" She declared and the two of them vanished into the midst of a flash of green light.

She transported them deep into the heart of the colony, almost directly to its centre. Shadow was dumped with a loud thud onto the cold metal floor and left there. His left arm had been dislocated and was hanging limp beside him, now completely useless. Pushing his eyes open, Shadow glanced around and their new surroundings and breathed in sharply when he recognised it.

The room was a large round chamber with a curved darkened ceiling and a floor so deep the light didn't reach it. A long metallic catwalk projected out from the walls towards the pillar in the centre that lanced from the floor to the ceiling. Shadow had been dumped onto this.

Maria, the light from her super form illuminating the chamber, crossed over to the pillar directly in the centre of the chamber. It had dozens of terminals around its base and three metallic spheres hung above it, suspended by little more than a magnetic force.

This was the control room for the Eclipse Cannon. G.U.N had disabled the weapon after Eggman had fired it at the moon as a display of its strength. But Black Doom's fesonian workers had rebuilt the weapon's controls and now it was perfect working order again.

"Wait…." Shadow started, reaching out but half stumbling to the catwalk floor. "What are you doing?" Maria smiled cruelly and looked down at the display monitor. It flickered on to show the planet Hydra below, a small version of the Earth with a blue atmosphere and green continents.

"That planet is an eyesore." She said simply as if it were nothing at all. "Think I'll blow it up." Then she placed a hand upon her chest and she separated herself from the Chaos Emeralds. Her fur lost its golden shine and she reverted to normal and the emeralds floated before her.

Wordlessly she reached out and took hold of the green emerald, placing it into the appropriate slot of the mosaic like interface.

The machinery, decades old, around them, groaned in response as if waking up from a dream. Around the base of the control centre, dozens of holographic displays appears; orbiting in a tight circle.

"Maria, stop! Don't you realize what you're saying?" Shadow demanded, trying again to get up by his limp arm gave way and he collapsed to the floor again. "There are billions of innocent people on that planet!"

She ignored him and slid the second and third emeralds into place. In response more of the room lit up and more holographic displays started circling around the base of the platform.

"I won't…" Shadow hissed, pure power of will fighting through him. "I won't let you do this." Despite the useless arm he propelled himself up at shot right at her. His flimsy attempt at an attack was repelled and Maria slammed him into the floor, pressing down hard with her foot on his injury.

"And just how as you going to stop me?" She asked.


	54. Episode 27, part 2

"That fing bastard took my ship!" Jet complained loudly, breaking into the Typhoon's bridge followed by the other Babylon Rogues. Nobody paid attention to them. They were all too busy rushing around with the ships alarms blaring in their ears.

The hologram displaying the space colony ARK, still in orbit around the planet, was hovering above for all to see; more readings than Chuck could cope with coming in by the second.

"It's a massive energy build up." He shouted back over his shoulder. "It's already off the scale and growing stronger. I can't keep track of it!" More and more alarms were going off all over the entire bridge, far more then there were supposed to be.

Miles barged past Jet and the other rouges and without a word to anyone he ran his hands over the main console control system.

"That's Chaos Energy." He stated as some readouts appeared on the holographic display. "And too much to simply be a static build up. I think this is…"

"Hey what is it doing now?" Hyper asked butting in, pointing up towards the holographic display.

All eyes were suddenly on the ARK as something began to happen.

Meanwhile on the colony itself, Sonic was having problems off his own trying to dodge the discharging psychokinetic blasts Silver was unleashing at him. His was only his speed that prevented the white hedgehog was getting a 'lock' on him.

"Dude, you are really starting to make me mad." The blue hedgehog remarked, rebounding off the side of a wall before coming back sharply at Silver with a leg drawn back.

The white hedgehog ripped a piece of metal plating out of the floor using telekinesis and used to block the attack, before a mental impulse smashed the metal into Sonic's body knocking him back.

Sliding to a stop nearby, Sonic tensed himself before spinning forward; his body moving far too fast and erratic for Silver to grasp telekinetically. This gave Sonic the opening he needed to land the strongest punch he could manage directly into Silver's face. The blow was strong enough to knock the white hedgehog off his feet, crashing into the floor and sliding until he crashed into the short wall before the window exposed to space.

Tikal pushed her eyes open, biting her bottom lip against the stinging pain flooding through her body. Her eyesight was blurred at first but eventually she could make out the image of Sonic standing over Silver's defeat form.

Sonic paused to catch his breath. That was all Silver needed to act. Reaching up sharply, the white hedgehog laid his hand against the side of the glass window. Sonic took a step back in alarm as a faint blue glow surrounded the window pane.

"What are you doing?" Sonic asked.

"Finishing this!" Silver hissed barring his teeth. Cracks started to run throughout the window threatening to break it open, the entire thing rattling as if on the point of breaking.

"Are you nuts?!" Sonic demanded. "You'll kill us both!"

"You think I care?" Silver asked. "You destroyed my entire world. I and billions of others have grown up in a nightmare, racked with the Flames of Disaster."

"And her?" Sonic asked, gesturing towards Tikal without looking at her. "Are you so fanatical that you'll kill her just to get at me?" Silver hesitated for a moment, his flaxen yellow eyes darting forward the female echidna.

"She's just one person." He muttered not meeting Sonic's gaze. "I… I have to…"

"Listen to yourself." Sonic butted in. "What kind of warped logic is that? I don't know who REALLY ruined your future, but do this and you'll be no better than they are."

Silver pushed his lips together, his eyes darting from Sonic to Tikal and back again.

"You wanna kill me Silver? Fine, let's go! But keep anyone else out of it."

The white hedgehog's eyes slowly moved to look towards the cracked window. For the moment the integrity shields were all that was holding it together but he could deactivate them with a thought. He could end all of this right now.

But loathe as he was to admit it, Sonic was right… he couldn't…. he couldn't kill an innocent to get at an evil. Even if such an action changed the future he could not. He did not have the cold blooded conviction for it.

He withdrew his hand from the window, before clenching a tight first; the circular marks on the back of his hand lighting up. Sonic grinned before sliding back to a safe distance and adopting a fighting stance. Silver pushed himself to his feet and mirrored the blue hedgehog's stance.

"Tell me. If you could choose, would you prefer to die in battle?" Silver asked.

"If I could choose, I wouldn't die at all, but going out fighting is definitely my style." Sonic replied with something of a loose grin widening.

"Then Odin will welcome your soul in Valhalla!" The white hedgehog declared rushing forward. Sonic did the same and as the two hedgehogs neared each other they readied their blows.

Before either of them could land their attacks, the floor underneath their feet shook as if in tremor and a loud groaning rattling through the air. The two of them paused there, their punches only an inch away from their opponent's face.

Tikal glanced up and around in equal confusion.

"What's going on?" Silver demanded trying to keep his balance as the rumbling became worse. Sonic moved over to the window and looked down. The stars were moving, sliding to one side. Since Stars rarely do such things he was quick to conclude that the colony was actually rotating itself around. It did not take long for the planet Hydra to slid into view

From here he could see the direct underside of the colony and the massive spike that jutted down from its flat surface with its tip pointed down towards the planet's surface.

"Oh…" Was all Sonic began to mutter as the bottom most level of this cone lit up, burning brightly with white energy.

The cone broke apart in four identical pieces, each one moving back from the centre like unfolding petals to expose the needle like tower within, the tip rounded with a spike jutting out the top.

"Oh… my….god…" Chuck began down on the surface with widening eyes.

All over the entire planet the Reptilian population gazed up at the sky as a second sun appeared before their eyes; growing brighter with each passing moment.

"The Eclipse Cannon?" Sonic asked. "Just what the…." He froze in mid sentence. "She has all seven Chaos Emeralds, that's enough to blow Hydra sky high!" Moving fast, the blue hedgehog made a break for it. He had to stop that cannon from firing Amy and the rest still on the planet were finished.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me!!!" Silver shouted, reaching forward and telekinetically grabbing Sonic by the ankles. Tossing him up into the ceiling, he bashed Sonic across the ceiling and floor before finally dropping him. "Its time I finally put an end to this!"

"There's no time for this!" The blue hedgehog snapped at him, vaulting himself back up but visibly stunned. "If that cannon fires at full strength it'll completely destroy that planet." His jabbed a finger down at Hydra. "Everyone on it will die, including my friends! I won't let that happen!"

"What should it matter to you?" Silver demanded

"Matter to me?" Sonic repeated with wide eyes. "Matter to me?!" He flew forward and grabbed Silver by his chest fur. "Now you listen here! There are people on that planet I would gladly die for! Close friends! People I would call family! People I love." He released the white hedgehog letting him drop to the floor. "I'm going to do everything I can to save them and you're going to help me!"

"Help you?" Silver started. Sonic leaned in close

"I'm not asking. I'm telling!"

"I…" Silver started but before he could finish he was cut of by the crackling of energy outside the colony as the second level of the cannon lit up.

* * *

As if she'd done it all her life, Maria worked on the controls of the cannon without faltering for a minute. All Shadow could do was watch in horror as the energy began to build up. Now that the program Prof. Gerald had installed into the Ark to crash it if the Eclipse Cannon was activated at full power had been removed, the weapons full destructive power could now be unleashed.

"Don't please." Shadow cried out managing to push his way to his feet. "They're innocent people."

Maria ignored him and continued working; holographic displays spinning around the base of the cannon's control system continuing to appear and disappear in rapid succession.

"Shadow, really you have no understanding of the mind of the mass do you?" Black Doom asked, his spectral image fading into existence nearby. "All species share the disgusting trait of being rebellious by nature, chaotic and unlawful. The only way to bring these insignificant worms into line in through a display of strength, to show them that their gods have returned."

"Is this the Golden Age you told me about?" The dark hedgehog demanded. "Where you maintain your control through destruction and holocaust?"

"A necessary evil." The spectre admitted. "It is the equation of balance. To create, one must destroy."

And in that one exchange, Shadow had at least been exposed to the truth.

"You're insane!" He hissed.

"I don't much care for your tone." Black Doom muttered and all three eyes glowed brightly. The mark on the dark hedgehog's arm glowed brightly and Shadow doubled forward, clutching his arm and yelling out in pain. "You are my servant Shadow and you'll do as I say."

Gritting his teeth against it, Shadow remained steadfast not moving; every ounce of his being now thrown into utter defiance.

He could accept being lied to. It had happened more than once before. But what stung more was the sensation of violation. The only things Shadow held to be sacred, his own holy ground, had been defiled.

This was something no part of him could ever forgive.

"I…." He started. "Am…." He held the arm with the mark up high above his head. "Not…" The dark hedgehog clenched his eyes tightly shut. "Your…" The mark was surrounded by a faint golden glow. "SERVANT!!!"

The faded mark, its hold weakened by Iapetus sparked with bolts of golden lightning.

"What?!" Black Doom declared in sudden shock. Maria paused from her work and looked up, her face a confused spectacle.

Letting out a hitch pitched scream, Shadow almost seemed to physically expel the mark. It was thrown clear of his body by a discharge of golden energy and in the air it faded away. The scar the plant that had resurrected Maria had left; faded away so any evidence of the mark had gone.

"I was never Krish's servant and I'm certainly not yours!" Shadow declared, new fire coming back into his eyes as the pain disappeared.

Black Doom's large third eye widened and the two smaller ones narrow. His entire projected body seemed to shake with rage.

"How…dare…you…" He started. Shadow ignored him and skated forward, sliding right through the projected body until he came directly up to Maria. The female hedgehog looked up at him and Shadow could see there was a faint glimmer of recognition in her eyes. Maria's soul was animating the body but whatever hold Black Doom had on her kept her from really assuming control.

"Fight him Maria. If I can so can you." He told her, taking hold of her hand before she could do anything. "Your soul is stronger than mine. He doesn't own you."

Her mouth spread apart in something of a look of wanting, an expression of need.

Running through the colony towards it centre, following the white and blue Hedgehog's, Tikal placed a hand over her heart; feeling the loosening of the restraints.

"Listen to him." She pleaded with Maria. "Please listen to him."

Black Doom let out along loud course laugh.

"Pathetic sentimentality." He chuckled and clenched a tight fist. Maria's face screwed itself together before reverted to its sadistic grin. Shadow slid to the side to avoid a kick that tried to catch him across the side. He parried away her strike before back stepping to a safe distance.

"Maria is and will forever remain my creature." The ancient titan declared.

"I survived Krish, I will survive you!" Shadow shouted before Maria leapt at him, slamming a kick down at his head. Parrying away the strike, Shadow gathered the beginnings of a Chaos Spear attack into his hand before throwing the hand forward defensively; unleashing the energy to throw Maria back without hurting her.

"If you will not fight to kill, then you won't even survive your sister." Black Doom remarked and Maria attacked with a tremendous ferocity that surprised Shadow, her fist flying forward to slam through his defences nearly hitting him in the face. It was only by vanishing into the midst of a Chaos Control that he got out of the way in time.

Even as he emerged from the warp, Maria seemed to come flying out of nowhere; smashing a flying kick into his body; sending him flying across the chamber to crash into the wall.

"Delay on this fool no longer." Black Doom ordered as Maria approached the controls of the Eclipse Cannon. "Destroy Hydra… NOW!"

Shadow pried an eye open against the numbness spreading through his body. His expression expanded into horror as he saw Maria's finger move towards the program execute button.

"Maria… Please STOP!" The effort on her face show that she wanted to, was fighting to that end. But ultimate the controls Black Doom had over her were far too strong.

Racing along the outer corridors of the ARK, Silver and Tikal in tow, Sonic tried desperately to reach the centre of the colony were the Eclipse Cannon's controls were located in time to stop it.

He did not succeed.

"What's happening now?" Silver asked as the ground beneath their feet began trembling. Sonic came to a sudden halt, bursting over to stare out the space-side window at the Eclipse Cannon tip as its third level lit up.

It was now ready to fire.

"No..." The blue hedgehog started in utter horror. "It's too late!"

Bolts of powerful blue energy sparked up and down its length; some crossing the distance between the petals and the tip. The weapon itself was barely even visible through the thick neon blue glow surrounding it. Winds of power encircled the cannon like a tornado, all culminating at the tip as it built up more and more strength.

With a sudden surge the energy condensed itself, expanding to a ball half the size of a moon with more brilliant radiance than a sun and could easily be seen from the planet's surface. The entire colony was a blinking star in the heavens.

Then the ball of energy condensed itself, turning oval shaped before it dispersed with a tremendous boom.

The Eclipse Cannon had fired, its deadly blast coursing down through space right towards Hydra.


	55. Episode 28, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 28: Death of Hydra

* * *

Rumours were inevitable.

This was the first time Queen Illumina had ever reacted so severely to any given threat. Not even during the civil war when Void and his forces had rebelled had she seemed so… so scared.

As soon as she gave the order for his forces to prepare to battle, the queen herself retreated inside the throne room and sat in meditation before the Previous Stone, as if trying to divine answers from it. No one accept with important information was allowed to see her.

One messenger, having delivered his message, came out of the throne room visible pale and shaking. The Queen had been meditating completely naked.

Void, unlike many of the other officers, knew precisely why that was.

He had read the scroll of founding. He knew things about their enemy the others did not. The queen's meditative period fitted in perfectly with what he knew and so the theory he was beginning to form inside his head was becoming stronger.

That did not mean however that is knowledge of the situation was complete. There were still giant caps in his understanding that refused to be filled. Some vital pieces of information were still missing and the puzzle itself did not make much sense in context without them.

"We didn't always live in Maginaryworld you know." He stated as he sensed a familiar presence coming up alongside him. "Centuries before we came here, our people lived in universe in which the Black Doom makes himself known."

Lumina Flowlight nodded once, the armour she was wearing clicking slightly with each movement.

"The Exodus." She replied. Void blinked once and glanced back at her. She had outfitted herself for the start of the campaign. Like most other officers, she was wearing her marble white almost roman style battle armour with gold around the edges. A green cape was attached to her shoulders and trailed out behind her, making the Seedrian look almost regal.

"The helmet isn't you." He said. Lumina sighed and pull it off, exposing her short pink hair and round face. She had let it out of their usual buns and now it hung just near the back of her neck. "What I've come to understand is both…. revealing and frightening." He carried on, glancing down at the crystal floor.

"As much as I can decipher, the ancient Titans were a civilisation unrivalled in technological might and cultural power.

They dominated the ancient universe, owning an empire that stretched over dozens of planets and even other realms.

As first their expansion was slow as they focused more on improvement in their society than claiming new territory."

Void crossed through a large archway and onto a canopy that stretched out across the battlements of the Imperial palace. From here they could see their troops marshalling for the expedition.

Their forces were stretched so thin now they were nearing the breaking point. Many of their enforcers were off trying to curb the dimensional breeches that were occurring after the shockwave hit the realms, the barriers between them weakened.

"That all changed when the Titan Uranos came to power." Void stated, placing both hands on the banister. "He turned their civilisation into a war machine before he was finally overthrown and killed by his own son…" He turned to look at Lumina over his shoulder. "Cronos."

There were few who knew the real name of the Black Doom. It was often muttered outside the hearing range of fledglings. In some reaches, the name had even become a curse word.

"Can we beat him?" She asked. Void blinked and stared. Now he beheld her more closely. She was shaking slightly and fear was more than clear in her eyes.

"We might." She replied. "But I'm beginning to think we aren't meant to."

Lumina glanced up in alarm.

"From what I have been to discover, the ancient titans were a threat to our ancestors. But not an external threat. An internal one."

"What are you saying?" Lumina asked.

"I'm saying…" Void continued looking extremely sombre. "That the Seedrians and the Titans are the same species."

Before Lumina could react, the crystalline buildings and world around them turned blood red and loud alarms started blaring. A recon squadron had gone ahead to the dimension in question and had been ordered to report back anything suspicious.

"Queen Illumina, this is Scout Ares to Queen Illumina."

The queen opened her eyes as she sensed the incoming message. Quickly she crossed her legs and pulled her armoured chest plate, covering her nakedness before the Precious Stone as the message seemed to fade into existence within it.

"Yes Ares, go ahead." She replied. "What is the matter?"

"I think you had better see it for yourself, you majesty." The scout replied. His face vanished and was replaced by another scene.

Queen Illumina's face became a sudden picture of alarm at the sight of a discharging Eclipse Cannon, firing at full strength towards an unsuspecting planet.

"I'm too young to die!!" Hare declared, throwing himself underneath the table and cowering there as the blast from the space colony rocketed towards the planet. The Eclipse cannon, firing at full strength, had enough destructive power to completely destroy a planet.

"Make room for me!" Fang added, diving in next to him with his hands behind his head. The ground was shaking across all of Hydra, windows breaking and thunder and lightning echoing throughout its atmosphere as if it was preparing itself for the end.

Spreading his golden wings out wide, Iapetus took off from the surface and soured high into the air.

"What on Earth is he doing?" Sam asked watching as the ancient Seedrian flew directly in the line of fire.

"I… I think he's going to try and deflect the cannon's blast." Chuck started in utter amazement. "Can he actually do that? Is he that powerful?" He asked, turning to Miles.

"No. Not a hope." The fox replied sharply narrowing his eyes. "But it looks like he's going to try it anyway."

Despite being naked and armed with nothing, Iapetus placed himself directly between the oncoming destructive blast and spread his arms as if denying it passage.

"I know you can hear Black Doom." He declared out load and forcing an almost magical energy forth, he formed a gleaming shield in front of himself. "The Dark Oak is gone! I AM IAPETUS!"

Black Doom observed the futile stand from deep within the bowels of Nexus and he frowned. Iapetus was no fool. He knew he could not withstand the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Even Zeus had never had that kind of resilience…. Yet the Titan of Light was trying anyway.

"Fool." He sighed. "Why throw the life of a god away for those maggots?" No reply came and Iapetus remaining rigid as the Eclipse Cannon's deadly blast came crashing down towards him.

A soft sobbing caught his attention and glancing to the side, Black Doom observed as his prisoner; Cosmo was bound by another of the Metarex Titans; Pale Bay Leaf, to the Sealing Stone.

"Please…no." She was crying. Vein red veins were moving from the stone itself to feed into her skin, essentially fusing her with it; binding her there.

Pale Bay Leaf was, unlike other Metarex, not suited for combat. His skills were primarily that of a scientist. It was his technical expertise that had allowed them to survive in Nexus so long.

"She's not cooperating Lord." The Metarex commander stated. Black Doom simply raised up his hand and pointed a talon like finger at her. A bolt of dark lightning coursed through the air to strike Cosmo.

She screamed out in pain, her back arching before she went limp. Her struggling ended and she was unable to stop the red veins from feeding more and more underneath her skin.

Black Doom ignored her despair and turned his attention back to the courtyard before his fort.

The armies were assembled ready for war.

And that time would come soon.

Their forces were divided into two groups, each under the command of a Metarex commander. The legions were mutants, life-forms created through genetic manipulation of the DNA of various subjects taken from different realities. Years of experimentation had produced these killing machines designed for only one thing; the eradication of any who stood in their way.

Releasing the Dragon Blood on Feleena had given the Black Doom years to study the affects of mutation on a planet wide level and with that research; the dragons in his army had been able to gestate and grow.

While the species they had started out with had been creatures of light, this new strain was anything but. Their wings were jagged and armed with talons on their tips and reach bony finger that stretched between the half torn skin. They did not seem to have any eyes and their necks were neck and thick skinned, horribly angled and bent teeth coming up from between their black scaly lips.

They certainly were not pleasant to look at but they were stronger than those Dragons breed on Feleena, hybrids created with the Feline genetic code. These monsters were under the command of Red Pine, who even now could be seen training them in flying formation.

The second group of monsters were those suited to the hunt. Under the control of Yellow Zelkova, the Werebeasts were large canine monstrosities with fangs and terrible claws. A separate experiment on another world had enabled the Black Doom to create these feral creatures, perfect agents to hunt down and kill his enemies no matter where they might hide. Their fur was as dark as night and thick powerful muscles rippled beneath it.

Beyond the large courtyard where the legions practised, a giant bridge was being constructed. It stretched over the dark abyss that was the void of Tartarus, sketching high towards the sickly green sky of Nexus. It had no far end but that was being constructed on the other side of the barrier and when they connect, the Black Doom would march victoriously back to reclaim what Zeus… that ungrateful bastard child… had taken from him.

At the mere thought of that name… Zeus…. Black Doom narrowed all three eyes in seething hate.

Even upon his return, as glorious as it would be, he would be denied the satisfaction of rending the traitorous spawn limb from limb. Zeus was gone and only his allies, ancient though they were now, remained.

Prometheus….

Rhea….

Those Titaness' who defied their husbands wishes and fought against them. They would all face justice for their traitorous behaviour.

"As Iblis given any signal of awakening?" He asked, glancing back over his shoulder as he sense a new arrival to his chamber. Moving in through the entrance was Black Narcissus, tapping the blunt end of his mirror staff down on the floor in a sort of announcement.

"None. As always." He replied. "The Void is as silent as ever. All I see within it is utter darkness. The Flames of Disaster are either burning too far away to see…. Or…."And for a moment the Metarex commander hesitated. "They aren't burning at all."

Black Doom whirled around and fired a bolt of dark lightning at him. Acting on instinct, Black Narcissus held his staff in the way. The blast however still hurt him, forcing him back several steps and then onto his knees.

"They burn!" The Black Doom told him sternly. "I feel their scorching touch as I have always felt them… even more so. Iblis… he senses our close victory and so I feel the burn even more."

"And Mephiles?" Black Narcissus asked, although he might have been pushing his luck by bringing that up.

"We have the scepter." Black Doom replied, gesturing off to the side. Something rattled before flying out of the darkness and into Black Doom's waiting hand. It was shaped like a sword hilt but made out of gold and encrusted with dark glass shards. With this in their hands, the crystal hedgehog was theirs to command and through him… so was Iblis. "We have Angel Wing. We have the Miracle planet. We have the Chaos Emeralds. We have everything we need now."

He turned to face his amazed forces, numbering well into their millions.

"Now… let the annihilation begin!"

The eclipse cannon's blast struck the shield with tremendous force, the shockwave cracking out with the sound of a clap of thunder. Pressing against the blast with all his might Iapetus tried desperately to hold it off.

Throwing his arms out in front of himself, he poured more and more energy into the preservation of the barrier.

The space colony's weapon did not back down. It continued its relentless assault, its sparking energy crackling across the entire planet; churning storms throughout the atmosphere and causing the ground to tremble.

Iapetus was forced back inch by inch, unable to hold his ground; slowly but surely he was being pushed back.

"I… I can't hold it…" He hissed through clenched teeth. He was sweating hard, his hair matted and veins sticking out on his arms. "It's too strong!" The effort made by the cannon began to lessen but Iapetus was running out of power long before that.

Cracks were appearing in his shield, its aura fading in and out before it began to vanish altogether.

"Can he hold out until the cannon's attack finishes?" Amy asked, staring up at the blinking star in the sky; the only thing protecting them from certain death.

"No, he's loosing it." Miles replied. "It's taken the brunt of the attack but he can't keep it up." He took a few steps forward. "Iapetus! Get out of there before you get killed!" The young fox shouted up.

The ancient seedrian did not give up. He poured every ounce of strength and energy into in his body into keeping the Eclipse Cannon at bay.

But even a god had its limits.

The full power of all seven Chaos Emeralds was simply too much.

The barrier shattered and the deadly laser crashed down through.

To weak to even move out of the way, Iapetus vanished in oblivion as the Eclipse Cannon's blast smashed through him and carried on down towards the unprepared planet below.

"Oh crap." Chuck muttered; drooping his shoulders.

Iapetus had drained away most of its strength but when the blast struck the surface, the entire planet trembled. The ground gave away even before it struck and when it did, the crater peeling back swallowing everything in its path. A city directly in the line of fire cracked open like an eye, buildings shattering and the people inside killed instantly.

"NO!" Sonic cried out, watching from space as green fire began spreading over the surface. An entire metropolitan area was consumed instantly, waves of destruction breaking over the planet.

The Eclipse cannon kept on going, its deadly attack burrowing down through Hydra until it reached the magma underneath the curst. Giant torrents of lava were thrown up through the crust at various spots on the surface, destroying over a dozen more cites in the process.

Even then it kept going until it struck at the molten metal core, striking hard at the very centre of the Hydra and when it hit home the entire planet shook as if about to crack open.

There its energy finally seemed to run out, its beam thinning until finally it dissipated; leaving Hydra with a massive hole running right down to its centre. Sparks of red lightning were arching over its spherical body and it had been maimed but the planet was still there.

"It didn't explode." Maria muttered angrily, but her face betrayed her own relief.

Shadow struggled up, staring down at the planet with a looked of intense relief on his face.

"Don't get too hopeful, that blast still penetrated the planet's core." Black Doom's projected form announced. "The released pressure of such an act, combined with the planet's rotation will rip that planet to pieces. Anyone still alive on that world will die either when their planet explodes or when the atmosphere dissipates." Shadow's eyes widened and he glanced down at the display of the wounded planet.

"I have taught them and this universe what will happen if they dare to take up arms against the domination of their gods." The Black Doom continued. "But however, I am not without mercy. If left alone the people of this world have a slow, lingering death.

Maria my dear…. Now that Iapetus is gone, fire another blast from the cannon and destroy the planet."

The reborn girl in her hedgehog body tried to resist but a mere glance from the Black Doom was enough to force her forward towards the cannon controls step by step.

Before she could get anywhere near, a bolt of golden energy lanced forth smashing into the floor directly in front of her; forcing her to back off.

Shadow lowered his hand and stood up, a sudden conviction burning in his eyes.

"No." He murmured before looking up. "No more."

"Don't force me to kill you Shadow… you're far too valuable to me!" Black Doom remarked savagely.

"Tough!" The dark hedgehog stated, before racing towards the cannon controls himself.

"What are you doing?" The Black Doom demanded.

Racing to the pillar in the centre of the chamber, Shadow grabbed a hold of the sea blue emerald in its slot and yanked it free, tearing it out of the cannon's control mechanism. Once freed from its communion with the other emeralds their ultimate power left the planet destroying weapon and the lights in the chamber dimmed slightly.

"Maria! Break him!" The protection stated, jabbing a claw forward at Shadow. Unable to resist the command, Maria had no choice; she flew at the dark hedgehog.

Slamming an uppercut into Shadow's chin, she sent the dark hedgehog rocketing up into the air, spiralling up towards the ceiling. Maria shot past him, rebounded off the metal ceiling before flying back and smashing a kick into Shadow's back.

Crashing to the ground, Shadow rolled to the side out of the way as the female hedgehog's fist came slamming down into the ground almost impaling him. Using the Chaos Emerald for an energy supply, Shadow came back with a strike that caught Maria across the side knocking her several steps to the right.

Using this momentary lapse to his advantage, Shadow went on the offensive striking Maria with a dozen super fast kicks straight into the stomach before he dropped down, brining a single leg about to knock Maria's feet out from underneath her.

As she fell backwards, he grabbed her by the arm and started spinning around on one foot; going faster and faster before letting go sending Maria flying to crash straight into a wall.

"Maria's soul or not, I will not let you do something that evil again!" He restored angrily, before clenched and unclenching his free hand channelling the energy necessary for a Chaos Spear attack.

Maria rebounded off the wall and held her own arm out, a darker version of the same attack crackling down to gather between her fingers.

They both fired their attacks at the same time and they met in mid air, the discharging and conflicting energies sending out a tremendous shockwave that rattled the entire chamber.

* * *

-

Sonic stood there staring, mouth hung open in stunned alarm. Eventually the strength left him and he sank to his knees.

"That… that blast alone would have wiped out millions of Riggarcial…" Silver stated in a similar wavering state of horror.

Sonic had always managed to prevent terrible events like this from happening before. He had always been fast enough, always gotten there in the nick of time but this time he had failed…. And failed miserably.

Just because he was too slow.

"So that's the answer." Silver muttered after a short silence. "Why Hydra had vanished before Iblis had been released."

"And when the Lord Black Doom returns more worlds beyond this will feel the burn of the refiner's fire!" A voice stated. All three of them looked back to see that their way to the colony's central core where the Eclipse Cannon's control mechanism was located was blocked by a large squadron of the Confederation Fesonians. They were all armed, some with plasma swords and others with large energy discharge weapons.

"The Riggarcial are mongrels, deviations of the pure Fesonian form. The Lord Doom has promised us that the Fesonian race will be purified upon his return… all rouge sects…. All toxic mutations… cleansed from our sight and we will be left pure!"

"Iblis will see to that!" Another of them added.

"Iblis?" Silver demanded turning to face them head on. "Your master wishes to release Iblis?"

"Iblis will cleanse the universe." One of them hissed in reply. "Leaving it pure!"

"Iblis is a devourer, a force beyond comprehension!" The white hedgehog snapped. "I am from the future. I've seen what will happen if Iblis is freed. He will consume planet after planet, even Feson itself; until all there is for eternity it eternal darkness.

There will be nothing; nothing left at all!"

"We will not hear your poisonous lies!" Their apparent leader spat, brandishing a plasma sword forward. "Kill them all!"

Sonic slowly turned to face them, clenching both fists at his side.

"No Trigger." Silver told him, holding out an arm to bar his path. The markings on the white hedgehog's gloves started glowing intently blue. "These intolerant bastards are mine!"


	56. Episode 28, part 2

"The planet is cracking up." Chuck reported; his hands a blur over the console as the image within the display started to blur and grow strained as the interference grew stronger. "The tectonic plates are coming apart. The planet simply can't contain the pressure of its molten core anymore." He glanced back over his shoulder. "It's going to explode."

"Explode?" Hyper declared. The ground underneath them began to shake as if gripped in the midst of a fit, the tremor continuing as dozens of buildings in the city beyond the limits of the depot started to crack, tumbling into their own footprint.

"Can you stop it?" Amy asked.

"Do I look like god?" Chuck asked with an amount of irritation in his voice. "The planet's core has been punctured. It's venting its pressure at a tremendous rate. It's a reaction I have no hope of stopping. We have to get off this rock before it blows!"

All over the planet, cracks began tearing their way through the ocean floors where the plates met. Giant geysers of lava and steam would erupt out, blowing the water off the sea floor to crash into the shores eroding away the land and causing the swamps to burst.

The reaction was travelling around all of Hydra, storms, hurricanes, earthquakes and eruptions tearing this large world to pieces. All traces of the Reptilians civilisation and indeed, the ancient ruins of the Titans, were all quickly crumbling into dust.

"How many ships do your people have?" Amy asked looking back at Hyper and Talos.

"Not enough for the entire population." Talos remarked. There was a sudden loud booming sound and the floor beneath them seemed to dip down suddenly. The buildings in the distance dipped down even further as if sinking a third of the way into the ground; dozens of buildings cracking open like eggs and showering the streets with falling rubble.

"You don't have a choice." Chuck remarked. "If you don't start getting your people off this rock you're entire species is going the way of the dodo." He typed in a command. "I'm sending out a wide range emergency beacon. It'll tell everyone within listening distance to evacuate. Hopefully you'll pass the message along." He paused for a moment. "But I'm afraid that's the best we can do."

The Riggarcial did not need further prompting. As soon as such a signal was received, against the orders of the authority to remain calm and behind closed doors, they leapt onto whatever transport they could find and made a break for outer space as fast as they could. Even their law enforcement started ignoring their orders and running for it along with the mass majority of reptilians.

The Blue Typhoon lowered its cargo bay doors and Chris rushed out, herding the depot technicians and anyone else who wanted to leave onboard.

"Come on people, this train's pulling out!" He called as dozens at a time rushed past him.

-

"No Shadow, this is something I fill not allow you to interfere in." The voice of the Black Doom stated inside his head. "Maria! Cripple this ingrate!"

The reborn Maria Robotnik scored a direct hit into Shadow's stomach, causing him to stagger backwards with saliva flying from his mouth. Using this opening, Maria grabbed Shadow by the arm and drew him in close; hammering a fast and powerful succession of punches into his chest before whipping her leg around in a tremendously powerful kick.

As Shadow was went flying, she soured after him reading a strike to catch him in mid air. Before she could hit him, a blue blur came out of nowhere

Sonic's kick caught Maria squarely across the jaw, knocking her sideways before smashing a head butt into her.

"What is this?" Black Doom demanded whipping around to face the intruders. "How dare you!"

Ignoring him, Sonic smashed a succession of stabbing kicks into Maria's stomach before tossing her back across the chamber until she nearly fell into the darkness of the abyss below.

"My Confederation guard was supposed to detain you!" Black Doom snarled as Sonic turned to face him. The door to the side shunted open and half a dozen Fesonians collapsed inward, rolling a short ways in as Silver marched in as well; dusting his hands.

"If you're the guy controlling the Doom's eye…" Sonic started. "Then you must be the one who ordered the Invasion of the Earth."

"You insects have no idea just how VALUABLE that fused world is!!" Black Doom snarled. "The Titans have been waited a millennia for that even to take place, the polar opposites of Earth and Mobius to merge into one. Their unstable dimension fusion has created the only rift through which we may escape Nexus.

Krish seized upon the opportunity first, using the rift to make his own way back; but he was only one soul. We wish to unbind many and the power to do that can only come from the seven Chaos emeralds.

The Rift will be cracked open!"

"So you can realise Iblis?" Silver demanded "I've seen it happen once! I'm here to stop it!"

"You will not stop us! The Flames of Disaster will incinerate ALL in their path, until nothing is left standing accept the Titan civilisation reborn!!!"

"No chance!" Shadow stated coldly. "I was a fool to ever believe you. But I won't make the same mistake twice!" Without another word he tossed the emerald he was holding straight at Sonic, who caught it with one hand.

"Take it, go!" The dark hedgehog. "Get them off that planet!" Then before Maria could react, Shadow dived at Tikal and grabbed the Echidna by the arm. "Chaos Control!" He declared and instantly the two of them vanished in the midst of a powerful green flash.

"Maria!" Black Doom declared, all three eyes glowing.

Growling, Maria turned to face the two remaining hedgehogs. The Emeralds embedded in the cannon glowed brightly once before flying to her side; filling her with power.

"I'm thinking we should leave." Sonic remarked taking a step back.

"Ditto." Silver replied. "But not before we make sure they can't use that cannon again for a while!" Sonic nodded with a wide grin. The blue hedgehog arched his back for a second before he started spinning, his entire body going around and around until he was moving so fast his quills were a simple blur.

At this point, Silver slammed a psychokinetic pulse that backed up Sonic's momentum to send him flying forward. Activating the power of the Chaos Emerald in his grasp, Sonic shot past a startled hedgehog Maria and slammed into the Eclipse Cannon's control pillar.

"NO!!!!!" Black Dooms screech of impotent fury could be heard echoing throughout the entire colony. As the controls were ripped to pieces, the charging cannon powered down, the sparking energies dissipating into nothing and ending the immediate threat to the planet.

"Wow would you look at the time?" Sonic asked, rebounding and landing next to Silver as all three eyes turned to face him; burning with intense anger. "Like to stay and talk about megalomaniac plans for conquest but we really gotta run. Ta ta."

Grabbing a hold of Silver's arm, Sonic held the Chaos Emerald up.

"Chaos…" He began.

"No! I can't let you take it!!!!" Black Doom declared. "Maria… destroy him!" Before she could even lift a finger, Sonic completed the process.

"Control!"

Black Doom 'projection reached out futilely as they both disappeared, taking the emerald with them.

"I was SO CLOSE!!!!!!!!" Both his projection and his physical body in Nexus screamed at the top of his lungs. The demonic creatures training before his citadel paused to look up in confusion.

-

By now, Hydra was a boiling pot; its entire surface collapsing into the magma as its crust began to break apart; entire cities sinking down beneath the flowing lava streams. A steady stream of ship's was leaving the surface and by now even the established government had realized their planet was doomed and were taking off themselves.

The Typhoon did not leave the dissipating atmosphere until the last of the ships was preparing to break orbit. It supervised the last of the evacuees before trying to leave itself. As it tried to break past the pull of the planet's gravity, the compressing planet started morphing; its equator squashing down so Hydra turned Egg shape

"Er… Chuck… we're not moving…" Hare said, looking over the bridge window. The Typhoon had stopped advancing away from the planet. The thrusters at the back of the ship were going at full blast but the ship itself was simply not budging, it was remaining rigid as if in geosynchronous orbit.

"Damn it!" Chuck stated loudly, pulling up some reports from the ships sensors. "The planet's axis has distorted and it's resulted in a powerful gravity well. We're caught in it. I can't get us outside the blast radius."

"Can the shields hold?" Rouge asked.

"Against an exploding planet with billions of tons of released pressure behind it?" Chuck replied with a raised eyebrow. "Not a chance. We'll be ripped to pieces, shield or no shield."

Miles darted up to the console control and nearly elbowed Chuck out of the way as he started running his hands along the controls.

"I don't mean to rush you, but that planet's looking mighty testy." Jet remarked.

"It's gonna blow any second now!" Storm started, jumping from one foot to the other in a frenzied panic.

Before anyone could move, a green flash erupted across the bridge and Sonic and Silver appeared out of the warp.

"If it's all the same to you… let's just get down to business." Sonic stated ignoring the startled gases around him. "CHAOS CONTROL!"

Accessing the Emerald's full power, Sonic encased the entire ship in a warp; causing it to vanish in a flash of light that could be seen for light years.

"I'm sorry sir; the ship doesn't go any faster." Okida wasn't really listening to his second in command's excuses as his new Predator class ship, the Thornblade. As fast as such a class was, he only just made it to the outer edge of the Riggarcial solar system when it happened.

Its outer surface peeling off like the layers of a fruit, Hydra finally tore itself apart fro down its magma core; the resulting release of pressure was a tremendous explosion. Space lit up for light years and parts of planetary debris shot past the fleet, followed by the shockwave that sent entire ships flying of course.

Giant fragments blasted off in different directions while the debris started drifting across the cold depths of space to be drawn into the orbit of other large bodies in the solar system.

Arriving in the midst of the shockwave, the Typhoon felt intense special turbulence before it manifested out of the warp and back into normal space. When it settled, those onboard crowded to the windows to see what had happened.

"It… it…it can't be." Hyper started with wide staring eyes. Slowly she dropped down to her knees, her scaly tail trailing out lifelessly behind her.

"It's gone." Talos began closing his eyes. "Our home. It's just gone…"

"An entire planet." Hare breathed, for once in his life, awestruck. "Just….poof."

"What kind of enemy would destroy an entire planet… just to get a single Chaos Emerald?"

"One that needs to be stopped." Blaze remarked. She lanced back over her shoulder towards the other group. Silver was standing before Sonic, glaring at him. The two hedgehogs faced each other without a word going between them.

Suddenly Amy came between them.

"Are you planning to try and kill him again?" She asked the white hedgehog. Silver rowled and glanced off to the side, clenching a tight fist.

"He's responsible for Ragnarok!" He stated.

"Sonic would never do such a thing. That's crazy." She told him still refusing to budge.

"It's true." He retorted. "In the near future his actions will cause complete and utter devastation of every single reality. Nothing would be left at all." He stared out the window at the floating debris that was moving slowly past them. "The fate of this planet will be nothing compared to the destruction wrought when Iblis was released, The Iblis Trigger is the one responsible." Sharply, he turned and glare past her towards the blue hedgehog who met his stare and matched it.

"I've no choice. I have to…"

"No!" Amy cut him off in a tone of voice she had never used before. Both the white and blue hedgehog's paused in a stunned state, staring at her as she stood there with fire burning in her eyes.

Everyone else fell silent as well, there gaze fixed directly on the pink hedgehog.

"I won't believe that." She muttered; her eyes directly on Silver with an iron clad determination in them. "And even if that was what was going to happen, even if that was true; if I had to choose between reality and Sonic…" She looked Silver directly in the eyes, her own alight with determination.

"I would choose Sonic!"

"Amy…" Sonic started with an awed expression. He had never before realized just how deep her faith in him ran. Sure he was aware she had feelings for him but this… did she really mean that? Did she really consider existence without him meaningless?

Silver just stood there with a dumfounded look on his face. He looked as if he was mulled something over inside his head.

After a moment he turned to face Sonic again

The mood suddenly became extremely tense.

"There's no doubt in my mind you are the Iblis Trigger." Silver began slowly. "But the creature I left behind in the future would never have risked his own life for anyone else.

Perhaps the Iblis Trigger is more than just the universe's destroyer. Perhaps there is more to it than that… or maybe the information I had was wrong… I don't know." The white hedgehog cursed in a language Sonic was glad he did not understand. Blaze apparently did and looked up sharply in alarm at such a terrible use of the language.

"I JUST don't know anymore. I know have to stop that future from coming to pass, I just…" He paused. "Oh I just don't know how anymore."

"This is the mystery at the heart of all of this." Piranha began stepping forth and adjusting his glasses. "The Black Doom, the Ancient Titans, Iblis… it all leads back to one thing." Sonic forged a frown in response.

"The Solaris Project?" He asked. Piranha nodded.

"Gaia told you, Prometheus told you and we're fresh out of leads with Shadow and the Ark gone." He gestured towards the Tpyhoon's scanners. The Space colony Ark had indeed vanished, using his jump engine to move somewhere else. "It's the only other place to start looking. And I think I know where to go to find out the truth."

"Where?" Silver asked, he more than anyone wanted to get to the bottom of all this.

"Kraken." The DJ replied

"A monster from Scandinavian mythology?" Amy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The Combined Federation home world is the planet Kraken." Sera explained looking dully down at the floor. "I… it's where I used to live."

"Precisely." Piranha stated. "The Solaris Project was jointed started by Com-Fed, The Order of Thunder and the Fenrir royal family. Since the last two aren't talking, they're the last people we have to go to get some answers."

As the others started talking about their next move, Silver lent against the wall and stared out at the endless sea of creation before him, his transparent reflection staring back at him. He had been so sure… they're information had been so hard to attain.

It had been their last ditch effort to alter that horrible fate. Yet… Silver's feelings were still mixed.

Was it possible that somehow they had gotten it wrong? After seeing him, after fighting with him twice, after witnessing his selfless actions… Silver simply could not believe this was the same person who would damn all of existence.

A mistake had to have been made somehow.

Then a scary thought entered his mind. What is the Iblis Trigger really was the one responsible… and that the events transpired against his will? That the release of Iblis had been an accident?

That was possible… and it also meant that by killing Sonic that events would stop here and Iblis would never be freed.

Silver turned back to look at them.

He couldn't do it. Sonic was such a kind person who put his life on the line for a planet he barley even knew. He had saved millions of lives this day and his death was hardly the reward he had earned.

Realizing that he was not alone, Silver turned to look to his side. Leaning against the wall right next to him was Blaze, or at least her younger self.

The feline looked him over and smiled. The years had definitely been kind to her. She looked almost exactly the same now as she did twenty years in the future, minus a few dulled furs here and there. She was still older than he was, but now their age gap had been significantly shortened to about three to four years.

"You know…" She started. "You're kind of cute."

Silver stood there dumfounded for a few moments as the skin underneath his fur turned beetroot red.

"Wha…" He managed to stutter.

"Well as hedgehog's go you're certainly something of a prize." The shade of red on his face darkened.

"Please, don't say stuff like that." He asked her. "You were my teacher. Stuff like feels kinda… weird …coming from you." She giggled at him and he blushed even more.

"Exactly how old was I when I taught you?"

Silver looked a little uncomfortable.

"About thirty." He muttered.

"My fur doesn't turn grey dose it?" She asked almost innocently.

"Er… no…" Silver started hesitantly. Blaze read the expression on his face as meaning there was something else.

"Then what?" She asked. Silver pressed his lips together and turned beetroot red, looking away purposely. Blaze was not curious however and was not going to be denied. While studying in Maginaryworld, Blaze had been learned telepathy. It was a skill she had not perfected but it did allow brief glimpses into the minds of those whose guard was down or they were otherwise distracted.

Peeking inside his mind, she was shocked to discover the image of a deep cleavage in between a pair of large round breasts. It took a moment but she suddenly realized she was looked at her own future chest.

"You pervert!" She proclaimed, drawing back a hand and slapping him hard across the face before walking off; leaving the white hedgehog staggering there looking stunned.

Sonic chuckled lightly out of earshot.

"You know… I'd almost forgotten how you people work." Miles admitted with a long drawn out sigh.

A moment later, a holographic message appeared before the two of them. It was Sam Speed.

"Sonic, can you and Ta…" He paused as the fox gave him a sharply glare. "Sorry… MILES…. Come down to the hanger please?" Sam continued, correcting himself with a nervous smile. "I think there's something here you should see."

Getting down to the hanger with so many people in the way was slightly difficult and Sonic was simply too pooped to teleport there using Chaos Control so it was a good few minutes before they arrived.

Half a dozen Riggarcial were gathered around something down at the bottom of the working areas, whatever was there was leaking a thick red puddle onto the floor. It didn't take Sonic long to recognize blood, nor the golden feathers slowly being carried downstream on it.

"Oh no." He remarked, vaulting over the side of the banister with Miles close behind him. Pushing through the same crowd they came across the battered, badly bleeding body of Iapetus.

The ancient Seedrian Titan had taken the full force of the Eclipse Cannon. His body was badly scorched and the skin, flesh and muscles ripped across his arms and chest. His hair had been singed short and he now lay naked slowly leaking blood.

"Sorry… if… I'm making… a mess." Iapetus managed to mutter before finally sinking down into a comatose state.

Without a planet to keep its orbit stable, one of Hydra's moons was drifting away into space waiting to be attracted by a body with a large enough mass. As it silently floated away, a single silent figure observed the retreating refugee fleet from its crater ridden surface.

Mephiles did not need air to survive. His body could easily endure a prolonged expose to the vacuum of space. While he was needed elsewhere he was glad he had stayed around long enough to see such a spectacle.

This was only the precursor, the foretelling of what was to come.

The three champions had met and events had transpired exactly as he remembered them. Everything was falling into place. Ragnarok was coming and there was nothing anybody in this universe or any other could do to prevent it.

The Black Doom, while necessary, was an arrogant fool. Just because he had that sceptre… that artefact…he believed he was safe… that he had full and complete command.

True enough it protected him for the moment… but command? Hardly.

But Mephiles was not going to absolve him of that delusion, at least not yet. It was far more advantageous to let the idiot fool himself… to keep him ignorant, until the fatal moment when it was too late.

"Ah…. Such pain… such fear… such….despair." Mephiles began in a low voice, crossing his arms, gazing over the shattered remains of the planet. "Oh it was so exhilarating but over too quickly." He tilted his head to the side to see the convoy slowly floating away. "But the pain they feel, lingering, festering, rotting away at them from the inside….. ah so much more satisfying."

The energy taken from this world now mostly dead populace would keep him sustained for quite some time. The crystals embedded throughout his body, some of them almost to the point where they actually were his body, all were glowing a soft pale blue.

"But do not be so hard on yourself Sonic, for this was merely one insignificant world." He muttered, scrutinizing his gaze on the Blue Typhoon as it's seemed to disappear into the darkness of space. "If you let yourself get this upset over something like this, you'll go all to pieces at the destruction to come."

Mephiles raised a claw.

"And I can't have that…no… I need you to keep a level head, at least for now."

There was a very sadistic glint to his bloodshot eyes.

"But keep that despair bottled up. Let it grow just beneath the surface, fester and infect. Then just when you can't keep it tucked away any more, let it explode and consume you."

In Chris' voice:

Solaris? Dose that hold the secret on how to stop the Black Doom? What's all this stuff about Titans and Seedrians anyway? With the Angel Wing now in orbit around the Earth what will be the planet's fate?

And what's this? A chance to return to Earth and Sonic isn't coming?! Find out why as Combine Wars continues with the Project S.O.L.A.R.I.S saga, next time on Sonic X!

Don't miss it!

Authors notes:

Hope everyone enjoyed this saga. I'm going to take some time know to answer a few questions that were raised in reviews and elsewhere.

Shadow is a G.U.N agent in the Nextgen game… why is he not here? (the answer is my story is mixing the storylines of several games into one… I'm cutting the best from all games and the overall Sonic X storyline and mixing them together. This is not a perfect recreation nor is it meant to be.)

You STILL did not explain the link between Prometheus and Angel Island. (Answer: I'll be getting to that soon.)

What happens to the Earth with the Fesonian Imperial rebellion? (Wait and see… )


	57. Episode 29, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LETS GO!

Project S.O.L.A.R.I.S saga

Episode 29: The Pit

* * *

-

The darkness of the pit was so absolute it was impossible to see even a few feet in front without the aid of artificial light. Espio always came prepared. Turning on a touch, the chameleon took point as the three of them descended deep into the crust of this strange world they had found themselves upon.

"Gee its dark down here." Charmy remarked, holding onto Vector's golden chain from behind.

"Wow, you never cease to amaze me with you ability to state the obvious." Espio muttered, trying to cut through the darkness.

Currently the three of them were followed a path cut into the stone wall of the pit that lead them down further and further. They had gone down so far now that they could long longer here the sounds of battle coming from about.

"Just what is all this stuff?" Vector wondered out load, stopping for a moment to examine the carved runes in the wall. They were a type of script he was sure of that, but one he had never seen before. It certainly wasn't the text the Confederation used as mainstream literacy. It looked… older.

Most of the inside of the pit was carved with it, every available surface had been engraved with these letters and Vector got the distinct impression he did not want to know what they said.

"Maybe this is what they had their slaves carving down here?" Espio ventured. That made sense. It would have taken quite a work force to get all this done. But the purpose of it all still defied Vector's reasoning.

"Hey DOWN THERE" Charmy called over the side of the rail down into the darkness of the pit. "Can anybody hear me?!!" The young bee received only his multiple echoes in reply.

"To be frank Vector… this is not looking good." Espio remarked by the croc did not look at him. The thought was already on his mind… a grim possibility that had been haunting him since he started out on this trip.

Perhaps he was too late?

Maybe Vanilla was… He shuddered, forcing the very notion out of his imagination. That was something he could not… would not accept.

"Espio do you have any gum left?" He asked.

"Gum?" The chameleon replied. "Why on Earth would you want that?"

"Do you have any or not?" Vector asked sounding a little irritated. Espio paused for a moment to search through his gloves and patches of scales under which he kept occasional bits and pieces. Eventually he did find some and handed it over, still unsure that this was the time for it.

Chewing cum was a little trigger for a creature with incisor teeth but before long Vector had mashed it up enough. Taking a large breath through his nostrils, he started blowing a bubble; which grew out from the end of his snout. Drawing on his natural ability to hold more air in his lungs he puffed the bubble out to almost insane proportions; filling it with enough hot air to make it buoyant.

"Vector what are you… hold on… what on earth are you... AGGGHHHH!!" Espio declared as the crocodile seized both the chameleon and the bee and jumped into the abyss.

Almost oblivious to the danger, Charmy simply let his arms roll back and he let out a loud:

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"

The hot air inside the bubble slowed down their fall drastically… allowing the three of them to gently float down.

"That's it! You're insane!" Espio gibbered, hanging onto Vector for dear life. "What I've suspected for years has been confirmed. You are nuts!"

Vector, holding the bubble together, did not reply.

Although the method was quite insane Espio had to admit that, as long as it didn't send them falling to their doom, the bubble did enable them to get down a lot faster. As they descended they caught sight of construction scaffolding on the side of the pit, abandoned and by the look of it recently.

"Espio, are we getting near the bottom yet?" Charmy asked, leaning around to look at the terrified Chameleon.

"I don't wanna know!" Espio replied, refusing to look at the seemingly bottomless abyss below them. Suddenly the slow decent ended when the bubble finally gave out, popping despite Vector's best efforts.

Their decent turned into a fall and for one spilt second, Espio was convinced they were going to die. The fall did not last long as the ground came up very fast beneath them, providing them with a very uncomfortable landing yet not the fatal plummet.

"Ok.. we're down now." Vector began after spitting the remains of the gum aside. He look Espio's flashlight while the Chameleon lay there nearly comatose. Shining the light around the torch revealed the cavern they had dropped into. It was jagged, obviously recently cut out of the bedrock and hadn't yet been smoothed over and covered with runes. Scaffolding lead from outside up the almost vertical wall to where the more complete construction was based.

"Who's there?" A voice asked out of the darkness. Espio pulled his face out of the dirt, already with a shuriken lead in his hand. Charmy darted behind Vector as the crocodile shone the torch into the shadows. "No… no keep back!" The light settled upon the frail form of a man, his bare back showing the tell tale scars of a flogging.

"Easy there, we won't hurt you." The huddled form looked up and a dirty unshaven face gazed at them. Seeing past their vaguely reptilian forms, the man finally realized they were not Fesonian Confederates.

"We're the good guys." Charmy stated, hopping onto Vector's shoulder.

"Wait… wait I know you…" The man looked them over each in turn. "I saw you… on Tv…with Sonic. I saw you fighting the Egg Fleet." When he realized precisely who they were he looked as if he might burst into tears of joy. "You've come… you've come to save us!!"

"Er… yeah let's go with that." Charmy replied with a nervous smile.

"Please… you have to help us!" The man pleaded with them. His pale skin showed an almost complete lack of exposure to sunlight. "They took us down here to work but they wouldn't feed us properly… hardly let us sleep. When we grew sick they dropped us down here. Most of us are dying."

Vector's expression suddenly became stern.

"Is there a mobian rabbit amongst you? A female… early thirties?" He asked almost afraid of the answer. The man nodded.

"Yes. You must mean Vanilla. She was one of the first to fall ill. Even the former Doctor's amongst us are saying that if she doesn't get medical help soon she's not going to make it."

The crocodile's reaction was a strange one, his eyes widened and his lips pressed together so firmly that his sharp teeth were pressing into his skin.

"I think you'd better show us where she is." Espio ventured when it looked like Vector was about to explode.

The beaten man showed them through the cracks in the canyon to a small underground cave system that the slaves, either too sick, too old or too physically spent to work had been forced to reside after they were discarded. There weren't that many of them, about twenty to thirty in all.

Quite a few of them number had been placed on natural forming stone slabs with shabby clothe blankets over them. One of their number Vector recognised immediately.

"Vanilla!" He cried out, rushing to her side.

After crossing the galaxy to come to her rescue he had finally found her, but the fates were not kind this day. He may have arrived too late.

Vanilla was malnourished, any meat on her had faded away quite some ago leaving her little more than a sack of skin and bones. He also had a fever and when Vector placed his hand on her head he could feel that she was burning up.

Her eyes rolled up to look at him and when she was able to focus and recognise Vector, she used some of her remaining strength to smile.

"I knew… I knew you'd…"She started in an incredibly weak voice but Vector laid a single finger on her lips.

"Don't talk. Save your strength." He told her. "I'm here now."

"Just what is the Confederation building here?" Espio asked the man who had led them in. "What exactly is this ring and what is the meaning of those runes we saw carved on the side of it?"

"It's a gate." Someone else stated. "A gate to a damned place where the dead reside. A gate into hell." Espio and Charmy looked up as a hushed silence suddenly fell over the crowded slaves and they backed up against the wall almost in terror. Something began moving out of an adjacent cave and as it did, the smell of rotting flesh suddenly filled the air. Those that had the strength to do so held their nose's as the stench grew stronger.

"You stand one level above damnation and when that gate is open, horror the likes of which only exist in your nightmares will spread from world to world." Whoever was there stayed in the shadows, preferring not to come out into the dim light to be seen. "I foolishly thought that perhaps with the right moves I could stop them… all of them not just Krish.

But it appears all my efforts have been for naught. The Black Doom's victory is so near now and while Krish was destroyed, the rest of my trap does not appear to have been used.

I failed."

"Failed?" A digitally monotone sounding voice asked and with a roaring of thrusters, Metal Sonic descended to the bottom of the pit; his red cape fluttering out behind him. His half eclipsed red eyes highlighted the cavern and in this light he appeared quite ominous. "Hardly. From what I have seen, you're plan goes ahead on schedule. Or am I wrong in surmising that you intended for the Black Doom to recruit Shadow?"

The figure in shadow looked up alarmed.

"I am not stupid Professor. While I am… somewhat… surprised to find you alive I do have an I.Q of several dozen military tacticians and strategists. With my programming I can detect such patterns and after I observed the giant ring you left behind underneath your house in France, I began to suspect."

"Loosing Maria… loosing her to the Black Doom was NOT part of the plan!" The figure wailed in despair. "Her soul is his now, bound to a shell in which she has no control!

At least in my own… decomposing state I have some degree of free will. Not so for her. I have lost her…"

Without a word, Espio raised the torch he had gotten back and pointed it directly at the figure illuminating him. There was a brief flash and for a single instant, a horrible being with hardly any skin left and the jagged remains of a white moustache was shown before a cowl was dragged down over the face obscuring it from view.

"I had hoped to discover about Dark Oak on my journey… but instead I find myself dragged once again into a battle to save all creation." Metal Sonic remarked, folding his arms with a soft metallic clink. "I am pessimistic, its part of the character hardwired into me. Yet I have not given up hope and neither should you." He looked back at those around them over his shoulder. "Neither should any of you!"

The robotic hedgehog's gaze was drawn to Vanilla and those others so dreadfully sick. There was a short green flash as he scanned her body, a green light trailing its way across her frail form.

"They're close to death. Another day or two in this state and they will terminate." He unfolded his arms. "If you want them to survive they must all be given penicillin or some equivalent at once."

"I have been doing what I can for them but I have no access to drugs or medicines." The figure in the shadows told him. Metal Sonic let out something of a chuckle that sounded strange through his audio processor. He turned to face him and compartments on the inside of his arms opened up, exposing several vials of liquid which were labelled in binary zeros and ones.

"Medical drugs are sometimes useful in mixing up various needed explosives and lubricants. My hinges need looking after and sometimes I just like blowing stuff up."

* * *

-

It was hard to tell precisely where in the galaxy they were. The star patterns were all different and it was difficult to determine which direction they were going. Still the small refugee fleet containing, according to Talos, not even a tenth population kept on drifting. When names were taken and records made, the true devastating affect of Hydra's destruction had been realised. There were only a couple of thousand saved.

The Riggarcial race had been nearly exterminated.

"I'm taking a bath on this one." Hare remarked, sinking down into his seat and putting his large hands over his head; letting his ears droop down.

"I think I need a good strong drink." Milford added, holding a hand to his forehead as if he had a migraine. "Right now I could down an entire pint of Irish Guinness."

"Not before me." Bean mumbled. "I've never felt more depressed in my life."

"Personally I'll just take the lemonade but I know what you mean." Chris stated. The four of them sat around a table in the cafeteria. The Typhoon, like most of the other ships in the small fleet, were all jam packed with reptilians who looked either displaced or on the brink of emotional breakdown.

"What about them?" Chris asked. "I mean… we still have a home, even if it is occupied, where are they going to go?"

"Do they have anywhere to go?" Hare added looking out from underneath his oversized paws. "Whatever's left on their home is probably in orbit in small fragments around their star right now."

"I suppose they have colonies on other planets." Rouge summarized as she walked up, trying to sound detached from the heavy emotion they were all feeling but she did not entirely succeed in the attempt.

"We do but it doesn't matter." A voice from behind her stated. They all looked back to see Hyper standing there. The hybrid had her back to them but they could tell by the way she had her shoulders braced she was crying. "They're on the other side of spiral arm, far out of our reach and even if we did get there; they'd never let us in; not without a shit-load of resources to barter with those bastards."

Nobody said anything as the language she was using and the way she used it gave over the distinct feeling of emotional turmoil.

"And Cosmo's in the hands of the bastard who did this huh?" Sonic asked, standing before the large window watching small pieces of debris float past. He, Miles and Amy stood alone on the bridge. No one else seemed to have much motivation to be on duty right now.

Miles just nodded. The hedgehog drew in a deep breath, held it for a second before letting it out.

"I just can't see how things can get any worse."

As if on cue there was a short flash of light as the air seemed to grave itself open and a small hole in reality opened.

Sonic looked back as Void and Lumina emerged and the porthole closed behind them with a soft audible surge. The blue hedgehog paused, bracing himself for the verbal onslaught. Void however just looked around once at the dozens of ships and displaced Riggarcial refuges and simply sighed, letting his shoulders slump.

"Oh suddenly I wish I was back in the days when Erazor Djinn was at my throat." He muttered putting a hand to his head as he groaned exasperatingly.

"Who?" Amy asked as Lumina as Void floated past them both.

"Oh just some bad guy Void put away before he got banished to Radiant Emerald." Lumina muttered. "He was from another dimension. Never mind about him. He's ancient history now."

"Ok Void… look I can explain…" Sonic started but Void simply held up a hand to silence him.

"I'm not going to shout at you." He told him a little too calmly. "We saw the Eclipse Cannon fire from Maginaryworld so I know this one ISN'T your fault." He scratched the back of his head, showing an intense frustration on his face. The stress of the situation was beginning to get to him.

"Queen Illumina has decided to go to Earth first. That's where the Angel Wing has ended up. Her army will be ready to leave within a few days."

"Fantastic!" Amy exclaimed looking a little more happier than she had been for quite a while. "I'd like to see those Confederates stand up to her."

"She'd told us to inform you that your world may have to be used as a base of operations for a short duration but it will be handed back to its legitimate owners as soon as possible." Lumina told them.

"As generous an offer as that is, I'm afraid it's going to have to be updated slightly." Miles warned them. "While you were gone… something came up."

Void raised an eyebrow quizzically.

They were lead down to the sick bay of the Typhoon where a short crowd had gathered around one of the beds. There were plenty of beds full of the injured but this one was attracting a lot of attention.

Void just floated there, his gaze transfixed at the eyes; mouth slightly open as pure awe seemed to radiate from him.

"Void." Miles started, stepping aside and gesturing forward. "Allow me to introduce the Titan of Light, Iapetus."

Void moved forth to the bed side and suddenly everything went quiet. There could be no doubting the similarities. The round face lacking a nose, wide eyes and unusual skin colour.

"It's true." Lumina gasped. "The Titans… they really are Seedrians!"

Hearing the word 'Seedrian', Iapetus pushed a single eye open, looked all those present over once and then grumbled something before closing it again as if he was asleep.

"Are… are you really Dark Oak?" The blue hedgehog asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Was." Iapetus corrected him almost over sternly. "Dark Oak is dead… gone forever… and I am better for it."

Void took a deep breath and paused as if trying to sum up his thoughts before he said anything. Iapetus however got there first.

"You want answers." He stated to him without looking. "You want to know what the Black Doom's plans are. How the ancient Titans relate to the Seedrians. Most of all, you wish to know if I am indeed who I claim to be." He opened his eyes and sat up in bed, settling his feathers against the side of his arms.

"Well?" Void asked folding his arms impatiently. "If you know my questions I'm assuming you have some answers. And right now answers are something we all need."

Iapetus chuckled lightly and leaned back into his pillows.

"I don't know how long ago it was when this all started. It must have been eons but I don't care to calculate the exact amount of time.

But all those years ago, when the Titan Civilisation was at its height; I was one of fourteen elite rulers of the Imperial hierarchy. We were sworn to serve the Lord Cronos after he disposed of the dictator, Oranos.

He saved our people from a horrible fate, salvaging our empire and saving it from becoming Oranos personal war machine.

I was one of Cronos' personal body guards. I was proud to be so.

Alongside me there was Hyperion, my partner in our guardianship of our lord. He was an intensely skilled sword-man, a master of all types of blade and had been killed many assassins during the early stages of the rebellion.

Standing in alliance of her brother was lady Rhea, a diplomat of unrivalled skill; who gained many of our allies. Her guardians where the Titan Oceanus and the Titaness Tethys, two warriors who worked together so much that when they fell in love they hardly even noticed.

Our allies in our fight were Lady Mnemosyne and her sister Themis. Their guardians were Crius, Theia, Phoebe and…" Iapetus hesitated for a moment. "A woman from the lower classes but still as skilled as any of us, Clymene; Oceanus' oldest child."

Amy chuckled, putting a hand in front of her mouth.

"Something funny?" Sonic asked.

"Everything is conforming to Greek myth." The pink hedgehog replied. "I studied that along with other mythologies. Clymene is the name of the ocean sprit that the Greek titan Iapetus married."

"I can see that our history did at least survive in some form." Iapetus said sounding a little pleased. "Oranos was power mad. He didn't see it at first. We all thought his actions were taken for the betterment of our society. He even had the first inter-dimensional ship, the Angel Wing, commission and built."

Sonic and Tails exchanged a worried glance.

"But after he used it in one horrible conquest after another his evil became all too clear.

Things became intolerable when he returned from some other realm with a relic of immense power, a crystalline stone that tapped into a near unending well of power. His warped him and combined with his lust for conquest he became a danger not just to our people but to everything in existence.

Faced with such a menace, Cronos and Rhea finally had no choice. They rose up and overthrew their father in a bitter fight to the finish inside the Imperial palace. I fought alongside them during that coup and was honoured to do so.

Oranos tried to kill his own son, showing no remorse in doing so. He would have won had Cronos not tapped into the relic's power and finally struck Oranos down."

"This… relic." Void began.

"Oranos dubbed it the Axis." Iapetus replied swiftly. "It was a very precious stone to him. A crystal, about the size of a man with jagged surfaces. It looks as if it was cut from a natural formation and never shaped. It changes colour some times but most often it was a pale rose pink."

Void frowned.

"Was it now?" He asked and there was clearly some dark thoughts being tossed back and forth behind his eyes.

"It was confiscated and placed inside the Imperial vaults when Cronos took power." Iapetus carried on as if he were oblivious. "For a while there was peace and that ten year period became known as the Golden Age. Cronos was a wise ruler and not interested in the regional conquest of others. Many of us who had neglected such things began settling down." He paused. "I myself married Clymene."

Meow… aww." Sera began with a wide cute smile. "Have any kids?"

"Four boys. Two sets of twins born within a year of each other." Iapetus replied chuckling happily. "Each one was different from the other, none of them alike at all; so much so it was almost hard to believe they were all blood related and…" His sentence ended abruptly as his gaze settled onto Blaze.

"Wait…. You…." Iapetus started at the feline. "Come here…" Silver and Blaze glanced between each other for a second before the cat slowly moved towards the bedridden titan. "Where did you get that hammer?" He asked; pointing to the weapon strapped across Blaze's back. The feline un-strapped it and held it forward.

Practise with the weapons had trained her body to be able to handle the weapon without it swinging to smash into everyone within striking distance.

"This is Mjolnir." Lumina told him. "It's the only relic Maginaryworld had left from the days of the Exodus."

Iapetus however barely even heard her. His gaze was fixed on hammer, his eyes alight with stunned awe and, Sonic noticed, an intense sadness. The blue hedgehog knew instinctively that Iapetus recognised the weapon.

"You know this?" Void asked, sensing the same thing. Iapetus nodded as Blaze gingerly handed him Mjolnir. In his hands the weapons seemed to flow a lot more than in her hands and obeyed him seemingly without hesitation whereas Blaze had to exert her will.

"I… I had never thought to see this again…." He began close to tears. Willing them back, he clutched the weapon to him as if it were a comfort blanket. "I remember the day he presented this weapon. He was so proud of his accomplishment." He sniffed, running a hand over the engraved label. "Prometheus, my son; made this."

"Prometheus?" Sonic gapped. "You mean that guy in the robe we saw in that floating thing on Roc was your son?"

"Wait… if this belongs to Prometheus and you're Prometheus' father… then that makes you…" Amy started. Iapetus looked up with a wirily smirk.

"That makes me the father of Thor doesn't it?" Blaze and Silver let out a loud gaping sound before the pair of them drop to their knees on the floor in unison keeping their faces down. Both of them started muttering hat sounded like a flowery version of ancient Scandinavian.

Sonic had to stifle a laugh and even Miles looked like he was struggling to keep himself from at least chuckling.

"Oh get up." Iapetus told them with an agitated tone. "I can't tell you how much I wish I was but the all knowing Odin… I am not."


	58. Episode 29, part 2

"What Oranos wanted to do with the Axis, I have no idea." Iapetus continued. "Cronos stopped him before he could enact his plan and for a while there was peace. A great golden age of prosperity and peace." The Ancient Titan's face turned sour. "But then the call from the Axis became too much for Cronos to resist, I theorize. He devolved into its power and one by one he started recruit our elite for his new movement." He paused suddenly looking guilty. "Including myself."

The winged being then noticed the looks some were giving him.

"The recruitment was involuntary." He explained. "Those whose willpower was not strong enough succumbed to the almost hypnotic effect the Axis gave Cronos. Over half a dozen of us joined him without even realising what we were doing."

"I can imagine that ended badly." Sonic remarked.

"It did." Iapetus replied. "Our bodies and minds were transformed by the Axis and Cronos' warped imagination. We became monsters working on a flawed logic, devouring and destroying everything we had worked so hard to build so that we might build it anew grander."

"Nero." Amy muttered under her breath although nobody really heard her that well.

"We were stopped." Iapetus concluded. "Cast into Nexus as Cronos, now calling himself the Black Doom, attempted to open the gates and release Iblis. Zeus did that although I am not sure now, I was not present at the battle between Cronos and his son."

"So now the Black Doom wants to pry the gates of Nexus open?" Knuckles asked looking pale.

"And lead an invasion force back into this dimension." Iapetus said gravely.

Silver's eyes dilated and the tanned skin went so pale it almost matched his fur.He started trembling and his breathing went sharp.

"The key to this is mythology." Amy stated. "The Titans story is a Greek myth on Earth." She nodded towards Iapetus. "And Ragnarok is a piece of Nordic legend." Now she looked at Blaze and Silver. "Its all coming back to mythology; and one piece of mythology especially, that of Iblis."

"According to the myths of the religions throughout the galaxy, Iblis is the embodiment of the eternal nothingness from which existence sprang." Piranha explained, closing his book with a soft thud. "The counterbalance to all creation in the multi-verse."

"And on Earth, Iblis is the Islamic name of Satan." Amy added. "A being made of smokeless fire, a Jinn."

Sonic shrugged his shoulders and turned to give Silver a look.

"Well you've seen this…thing. Which would you say he is?"

Silver was still shaking

"A force of destruction beyond words." He muttered. "When I was born, Iblis had already been released from his prison.

I've seen him devour world after world; suck suns dry and crush moons."

Void let out a load groan and put a hand on his forehead.

"There are some days I wish I was still stuck in Radiant Emerald."

"Illumina?" Iapetus asked. "Who is…" He paused, blinking as if sudden memory came flooding back. His eyes jumped to life and he held a finger to his lips as he looked extremely thoughtful.

Void looked up sharply.

"Yes I remember her now." The ancient Seedrian muttered. "But Illumina?" He stuck his tongue out and contorted his face into one of disgust. "What a terrible name she took. "So tacky! Why would she forsake her honourable Titan name for something like that?"

Lumina let her mouth drop open.

"Titan name?" Miles asked. "You mean Queen Illumina is a titan?"

"Technically all Seedrians are." Void told him managing something of a stern glare as he looked out into space, dark thoughts dancing across his mind. "But you're saying that she was one of those originals? Those who lived at the same time of Cronos?"

Sonic chuckled lightly with a wide goofy smile. Void looked up at the blue hedgehog.

"You knew." He asked. Sonic let his grin widen a little and he cast Iapetus a sideways glance.

"Rhea?" Sonic asked. Iapetus managed his own smile.

"Rhea." He repeated in confirmation.

"The sister of Cronos! Of the Black Doom!!!!!!" Lumina exclaimed looking startled and even awed.

"Oh now WHY am I not surprised?" Void asked putting a hand to his forehead. Lumina seemed to loose her buoyancy and she drooped down to the ground, her pixie like wings going still.

"Impossible… no." She muttered.

"Hey… Rhea is nothing like her brother understand?" Iapetus asked sitting up but almost immediately regretting it as he bruised his injuries. "She was the one who led the counterattack against Cronos when he tried to unleash Iblis the first time."

"First time?" Knuckles repeated, picking up on that statement. "You mean that's what he intends to do again?!"

Iapetus frowned deeply.

"Unleash the Flames of Disaster, to destroy everything in existence; leaving the universe and all universes beyond it a blank foundation on which to recreate his kingdom and hegemony of the Titan Civilisation."

"Is he insane?" Silver demanded. "Iblis has no master. He would destroy all, including the Titans. He and Mephiles, his dark will personified, have cracked the universe of my time in half."

"It deifies logic doesn't it?" Iapetus muttered. "But I'm afraid… long exposure to the dark realm of Nexus have INDEED driven the Black Doom and his supporters quite insane.

I should know…I was one of them before Krish offered me a chance to leave Nexus. It was only when my body and mind was restored at the madness that place inflicts upon those inside was finally lifted."

"Then… is the Black Doom the Iblis Trigger?" Silver muttered.

"Or perhaps the information you had about the Iblis Trigger was wrong." Piranha added, offering forward a different possibility. "Could you perhaps tell us from where you came by such intelligence?"

Silver paused, as if dissecting the theory. At first he seemed intensely reluctant to do so. He swallowed a lump in his throat and past a hand over his face as if was forcing himself to even consider it.

"Blaze…my Blaze… she got us the information, retrieved both it and knowledge of the ancient Titan time machine at the cost of her life."

Nobody said anything to that and for a moment at least the sick bay was deadly quiet. Blaze simply slipped her fingers around Silver's and held his hand. He didn't complain. He fact he tightened his grip a little bit.

"Well, the Solaris Project did, according to rumour; delve into the Ancient time travelling experiments of the Titans. It's possible that…" Piranha started.

"Er…guys as much as I'd hate to interrupt." Chuck butted in, keeping his gaze fixed on the sickbay window. They followed his gaze out into space as a shadow began to fall across the Typhoon and the ships escorting it. Blocking out the light from the Reptilian systems distant sun was a massive space ship.

It was a Predator class battleship, the Swords of the Galaxy; the primary fighting vessels used the Combined Federation of Interstellar States. It was shaped, as the title suggested, like a cutlass sword with the bow flat and pointed. It shone metallic silver before turning more ivory at the back where the thrusters fattened the ship a little.

"Are we expecting someone?" Rouge asked looking up as surprised at the rest of them. There was a short buzzing sound and a holographic display appeared directly before them.

"Now that's hardly the way to greet us after so long is it?" A familiar voice stated as a beaming smile faded into view. It was a human woman with shoulder length tea brown hair and azure eyes.

"Topaz?" Rouge asked, blinking her eyes and unfolding her arms. "Where have you been?"

The woman shrugged.

"Here and there. Okida and I have been fighting on so many planets along the frontier its been hard to keep track of them all."

"Who's the ship belong to?" Sonic asked.

"Its mine." Okida stated, poking his head out so he managed to get some air time. Like Topaz his hair had grown longer, so long in fact he was tying it back into a pony tail behind his head. He looked run down however with rings around his eyes as if he hadn't gotten enough sleep lately. His top head fur was also kinda outta place.

"And as much as I'd like to do catching up, can we skip the formalities? I'm kinda busy over here as it is." He showed them the giant bundle of paper work he was carrying in his arms, much of which he was dropping on the floor.

Not one to beat around the bush, Sonic and a few others went over to the Federation class ship; The Thornblade and once they were they there they received shocking news.

"Earth!" Chris began almost staggering back. "You're going to Earth?" Okida nodded, despite his physical fatigue, looking rather smug. The vampire bat was wearing a new outfit which, presumably, was the attire for Com-Fed officers. It was sleeveless and blood red, a silver zipper going diagonally across the chest.

Those gathered for the meeting included Void, Sonic, Miles, Chuck, Chris, Knuckles and of course Okida and Topaz themselves.

"The Confederation invasion force is now in full retreat." Okida explained. "There was a rebellion within their ranks thanks to Doctor Eggman and his Imperial Guard.

At the moment, The Confederation's entire invasion depends on their bunker planets that they captured. Finally, the high level brass has decided to remove their influence there."

"Finally!" Chuck declared loudly, thrusting a fist into the air in utter glee. "We're going home!" Before any censorship could be enacted, the word spread throughout the Typhoon like wildfire. Nobody has the nerve to cheer as they were host to hundreds of Riggarcial who no longer had a home to go back to but nonetheless the mood was one of utter joy.

"And what about those who were taken from the planet to be slaves?" Chris asked, bringing up the one subject just about all of them had buried in the back of their minds refusing to give it any time.

"Believe me there would be nothing more I'd like than to bring them all home." Okida told them all. "But to do that we'd have to storm our way into Fesonian controlled space and search their entire empire for them." The bat let his shoulders sag and his wings fall behind his back. "Even WITH Com-Fed backing we simply don't have the man power for that."

His statement was truth and they all knew it no matter how badly they didn't want absorb that face. For ages they had deluded themselves into thinking that somehow they'd be able to get everyone home where they belonged. It had bee one of the central drives that kept them going.

"So we just abandon them?" Chris asked after a pregnant silence. Okida managed a grim smirk.

"I did not say that." There was something in his tone that suggested to Sonic at least that there was something in the works for the benefit of the Earth displaced. "But the important thing is to take back Earth now. Doctor Eggman, the Imperial Guard and the Confederation are so busy fighting their rivals at the moment they can't pay much attention to the Earth."

Topaz nodded in agreement.

"Now is the perfect time to strike and take it back."

"I'm not going." A voice said simply.

Suddenly everything went deadly quiet, all eyes turning to look directly at the blue hedgehog. Sonic stood there with his arms folded behind his head and a wide grin on his face as if what he had just said was no big deal.

"Sonic what are you saying?" Knuckles asked looking stunned. "This is EARTH we're talking about here! Our home!"

"What I am saying is you take the Typhoon back to Earth. I'm staying here in space, at least for a while."

"Sonic… this is the future of the world we're talking about here." Okida told him, leaning forward in his chair. "It took me months to convince the Com-Fed big wings and now… now you don't want to go?" The vampire bats tone was that of stunned awe.

Sonic shook his head slightly.

"Nope not yet. I've got stuff to do." He cast Knuckles a glance. "Besides I know you've been dying to get back to Angel Island ever since we left, over two years ago now." He managed a content look. "You guys can handle all the stuff on Earth without me. There's too much to do out here in space at the moment."

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Sonic." Miles remarked speaking for the first time during the meeting. "Yes Earth is important… but compared to what else is at stake here its not that essential." He paused registering the hostile looks some where sending him. "Comparatively speaking."

"The Black Doom needs the scions of two Bloodlines, along with the seven Chaos Emeralds in order to open the gate." Sonic explained before looking at Miles. "I'm guessing that's why he kidnapped Cosmo? She's descended from Prometheus, one of the Titans who bound him and his followers in Nexus… right?" The young fox just looked distant for a moment before he nodded once.

"Well I've got one Chaos Emerald." Sonic carried on. "But we have to get to that other scion before he can, save him or her."

"But we don't know who they are." Chuck reminded him.

"True." Sonic agreed but then let a wide grin cross his lips. "But we know where to go to find out."

"Solaris?" Chris asked and the blue hedgehog nodded.

"Solaris!"

"Oh come back Erazor, all is forgiven." Void muttered rolling his eyes and putting a hand to his face.

* * *

-

Earth was a war zone.

Fighting had been going on for weeks now and most of the cities across the world were in ruin. Any recognisable trace of the society that had flourished here before the war began had all but been destroyed. By now, Eggman had withdrawn his forces refusing to get bogged down in a battle he knew he could not win.

The Imperial Fesonian guard had driven the Confederation off from the Northern hemisphere and they were now fighting in orbit, duelling for supremacy. The Black Arms sect had come to the aid of the Imperials and together their fleets were inflicting serious punishment upon the now blood thirsty Confederation.

The G.U.N forces, now coming out of hiding, were battling the Confederation in the southern hemisphere; reclaiming ground bit by bit.

Despite all this chaos, Shadow managed to emerge out off the Chaos Control warp in a relatively quiet spot. He chose the old ruins of Station Square, a city which by now had been reclaimed by nature and covered in greenery.

He and Tikal emerged in a flash of green light and as soon as they're feet were on the ground the emotional barriers Shadow had erected to sustain himself collapsed. Shadow fell down to the ground, collapsing into an uncontrollable fit of tears. Hugging his legs to him he looked as helpless as an unborn child.

"Shadow!" Tikal cried out rushing to his side, trying to get him back up. When she couldn't she simply held him to her and let him cry; his tears rolling down his checks and onto her dress.

"What have I done?" He cried. "What the hell have I done?!" Without another word his body went limp, his wide open but somehow dead and his breathing short and shallow. It was almost as if… as if he were dead.

"Shadow… Shadow!" Tikal shook him, trying to make him move.

She could not reach him. The dark hedgehog had treated so deep into his own mind that he was now engrossed within that wall of ice that surrounded his soul. So much so that any outward show of consciousness vanished and he became as limp as a rag-doll, lying there so helpless he was like a newborn infant.

"Shadow... please don't…" She told him, clutching him to her. Shadow did not reply. She shook him, yelled at him; even tried to slap him once or twice. Nothing worked. Shadow was just lifeless.

A crack of thunder sparked overhead and an instant later it began to rain, heavy pellets falling out of the overcast sky above to strike the ground with a rhythmic pattern. As it past through the canopy of the trees above Tikal took Shadow under each arm and started pulling him to the relative shelter of an overhanging ruin.

Minutes ticked by followed closely by hours. It was impossible to say exactly how long Shadow had been like that but as time wore on, Tikal's anxiety began to grow and grow.

Nothing she tried to bring him out of this self inflicted mental isolation worked. As if he were brain dead, all he would do was breath and even then he was so still it was frightening.

Many times she tried to reach him, to enter his mind but now the wall of ice was so strong it was now impenetrable. As if all her efforts to bring him back to the warmth had failed, now he was cold again.

Alone now, her guardian gone and the hedgehog she loved now little more than a lifeless puppet; for the first time in her life Tikal broke down and wept.

* * *

Exact control over the situation was impossible. Chaos was so prominent on Earth that directing his rebellion was near impossible. More fighting was going on now than during the initial invasion.

Mandarin was tired. Very tired. He looked older than he actually was by now, his face fraught with premature wrinkles and his hair almost white. He hadn't slept in three days and had had little time for food and drink. The only think that had kept him awake or at least conscious during the last seventy two hours was a constant supply of coffee.

By now he was having caffeine withdrawal symptoms that were rendering him almost incapable. His body was screaming for rest but he simply did not have the time. The remaining influential G.U.N armies were rallying at the remains of Central City. Once it was retaken they could use the Confederation's own spaceport to launch a counterattack at the orbital defences.

With the Black Arms and these new… Imperial Guard… Fesoninan's bombarding them from the outside this was the perfect time to strike.

Of course, the thought had past his mind of what he was going to do after the Confederation was driven off Earth. With any legitimate government on Earth demolished, the question of who was to govern in the aftermath really held precedence now.

The Black Arm's had made it clear they did not want territory on Earth. They had the entire planet of Mars and were happy with that. The Imperial Guard were a completely unknown factor but they appeared more interested in pursuing fleeing Confederation than with the Earth itself.

There was various factions with the resistance and Mandarin had absolutely no doubt that once the Confederation were gone they would squabble amongst themselves for the right to rule. Mandarin was not going to let that happen.

He was, and had always been, a defender of the democratic process. Throughout this conflict he had been watching members of his forces who showed political leanings towards the far right and the far left.

He was not going to let either get any movement. The last thing he needed right now was the idiocy of some of the left over human based political parties.

The bleeping of a alarm brought him back out of his thoughts and glancing up at the row of monitors in front of him, Jericho could see that one of the many G.U.N beetle robots scattered throughout the region had picked up something.

Even as he pulled his chair closer to the monitor in question, the automated spy machine was homing in on the intruders. It observed them from a discreet distance, focusing in on the image several times in order to get a better broadcast.

The orange Echidna girl was somewhat familiar but Jericho recognised the black and red one with a start.

With cold resolve, he reached for his Walther P99 and several magazine clips.

* * *

"Oh dear..." The blue hedgehog muttered as he emerged from the airlock back onto the Typhoon. Just about everyone had tried to cram into that one corridor. Dozens of people from Earth, a few reptilians and the entire original Typhoon crew including E123: Omega. All of them had keen, apprehensive expression on their faces and Sonic sighed when he saw Amy standing right at the front.

"Ok people… it's true… you're all going back to Earth." The blue hedgehog smiled. "But I'm not coming with you."

"You don't need to justify it to us blue boy." Rouge told him with a smirk.

"We've come a long way together and we trust your judgement." Bark added with a short affirmative nod.

"Sonic the hedgehog designated Primary Unit." Omega stated, raising his large barrel sized arm in a salute.

"You just do what you need to do… and we'll have the Earth nice and clean when you get back." Bean said with a sadistic glint to his eye.

Sonic relaxed his shoulders and managed a warm smile.

"I appreciate it. But I will need a few to go with me." Amy was clamped onto one of his arms in an instant, refusing to let go.

"Meow! You'll need me." Sera insisted clamping onto the other arm, thrusting her chest at him unintentionally about putting his nose in her cleavage. "I know Kraken. I used to live there. I know where the place well."

Amy almost growled at her.

"The Earth is not my home; I will go with you as well." Silver stated walking up with Blaze at his side. "I still don't know precisely what the true nature of the Iblis Trigger is yet, but this Black Doom must be stopped."

Before Sonic could reply, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking back he saw that Knuckles was standing behind him. Gently Sonic freed his arms from the two girls and turned to face him.

The hedgehog and the Echidna stood before each other. For the longest time the two of them had been rivals but over the years they had become friends, comrades fighting side by side against villain after villain.

"I'll have the Earth ready for you." The Echidna told him. Sonic managed a wide grin and the two of them smacked fists together in a strange variation of a hand shake.

Sonic tried to pretend like Knuckles hadn't fractured two of his fingers. "I'll investigate Angel Island. The blue prints we found in Prometheus' retreat showed me there is more to my home than I know."

"Maginaryworld's own army will arrive in this dimension within a few weeks." Void added. "We'll go to Earth as well, that's where the Angel Wing has been tracked to. If it's that essential to the Black Doom's plans then every attempt to be made to destroy it."

"Good luck Sonic the Hedgehog." Okida told him, raising his hand in a salute. Sonic mimicked the motion half heartedly. "I'm going to liberate a planet but something tells me the task you've said yourself is far more difficult.

If all goes well we'll see you on Earth."

The Babylon Rouge's ship disconnected with the Blue Typhoon and as the Com-Fed battleship Thornblade led the entire refugee fleet around.

"Hey word to the wise blue boy, I'm not doing this to help you." Jet proclaimed indignantly as Sonic and Miles stood together by the main observatory window watching the Typhoon move away. "I'm going with you because I want to find out about this… Solaris project… as much as you do. My father was neck deep in this stuff and I want to know why."

"Yeah, yeah I know." The blue hedgehog muttered in reply without paying much attention. Jet managed a snort before he too glanced up at the fleet. It was a nostalgic moment for the rouge. It reminded him far too much of the lost days of the Pirate fleet and he had to look away.

"You sure you really wanna go to Kraken?" Jet asked as Sonic kept his eyes forward on the ships moving into deep space. "I mean it's not the best planet in the universe to visit. It's an industrial nightmare. Most of the planet is covered permanently in smog. There's only one hospitable region there."

Sonic was silent for all the while the Typhoon was still in sight. It had served as his home for years now although it still seemed like yesterday when Tails…._Miles…_ had first unveiled it.

"There's our only link to Solaris." Piranha replied with a shrug of his shoulder. The alien reporter had insisted on coming along as well. "And Solaris is our only link to the scion of the bloodline of Zeus. We have to find that family before the Black Doom does and Solaris is our only lead."

Storm let out a loud chuckle, folding his arms behind his head as he swung back and forth in his hammock.

"That is if you get them to spill the beans."

"If you think they're just going to simply tell you about one of their top secret projects then you're more all more naïve then you look." Wave added, looking up briefly from her book; letting her reading glasses tilt down the bridge of her beak.

"I'll ask my dad." Sera told them. "Meow. I'm sure if I explain why we need to know he'll tell us."

Jet let out a load roar of laughter and walked away, the sound of his high pitched laugh echoing through the small ships corridors as he left through a steal doorway.

"What?" Sera demanded. "Meow! You don't think I can do it?"

"I'd like to see it, let's put it that way." Wave stated and went back to her book. Sera hissed in true feline fashion and her tail stood up on end.


	59. Episode 30, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!!!

Episode 30: The tale of Solaris

* * *

The medicine Metal Sonic had brought with him was like a god send to these poor people. It was too late to save a few of them but many more were brought back from the brink of death.

"This place must be demolished." The robotic hedgehog remarked. "This gate must never be opened." He took out several of the vials he hadn't handed around and began mixing the liquid contents. "Prepare to get these people out of here and then I'm going to demolish this hideous construct."

"Fine." Vector remarked, keeping his eyes on Vanilla. One hand was on her forehead, constantly measuring her temperature. The medicine was helping her breathing but she was radioactively hot.

"What are planning to blow this place up with?" Charmy asked; flying around Metal Sonic as the robot began his alchemy.

"This is Nitro-glycerine." The metal hedgehog stated, tapping a talon against the side of the vile in his left hand. "It's used in normal demolition and it's very explosive." Despite the warning Charmy didn't seem any less interested. "And this…" Metal Sonic tapped the vile in his right hand. "Is a special catalysing compound I created myself. It makes the Nitro-glycerine ten times as explosive. I'm going to need it…" He glanced up at the distant sky above from the roof of the almost moon sized pit. "At least I have to cave this pit in. I can't let the Black Doom use this gate."

"The Black-what?" Charmy asked looking confused.

"Never mind."

Eventually Charmy got bored and flew off to see if he could bother someone else. As he kept mixing his explosives, making them into a hard putty like substance; Metal Sonic was approached by the robed figure who had looked after all those who had fallen sick.

"So care to tell me why you're still alive?" Metal Sonic asked without looking at him.

"Alive is hardly what I'd call this state of being." The hooded being stated. "Its merely existence and a horrible existence at that."

"I'm still waiting." The robot said.

"Oh I died alright." The being continued ignoring the rude prompting. "I can still remember the moment I faced that firing squad. My mind had been so fractured I couldn't even feel the pain.

They dumped my body in an unmarked grave, leaving it to rot there in the mud without a coffin. As soon as they're backs were turned, Black Doom summoned this form to his base on this, 'Miracle Planet' as he calls it, and he reattached my soul to it. He needed me to work here, to assist his slaves in the construction efforts that's been taking more than five decades now.

There was nothing he could promise me to make me work for him but through means I do not understand he forced me to help. Little by little my body had been rotting, as if it's been decaying ever since those bullets hit me or perhaps the Black Doom refused to allow me correct immortality as a punishment for trying to stop him.

I might have been consoled in this existence had my plan worked but all has failed now. I'm afraid that even if you manage to destroy this gate you will not stop the Black Doom's overall strategy."

"Maybe not." Metal Sonic admitted. "But if nothing else it'll slow him down."

The robotic hedgehog finished mixing the contents of the two vials and taking the resulting putty between his hands, flexing it out.

"You're merely delaying the inevitable." The corpse muttered.

"Precisely." The robotic hedgehog replied. "Given enough delays I'm sure I can come up with a more effective solution."

"You've a strangely optimistic attitude for a machine."

"I'm probably the first artificial being who can tell a joke." Metal Sonic looked up. "You have your grandson to thank for me. As much as I detest the man, without him I would not exist."

"Ivo?"

"While he may not win any awards for being a model citizen he is admittedly a brilliant scientist."

The animated corpse considered this for a moment and a wave of pride almost seemed to emanate from him.

"Alright, you don't have much time." He then suddenly started. "If the Black Doom activates the gate you don't be able to destroy it."

Metal Sonic chuckled.

"Now that's a much better attitude."

* * *

-

Sonic and Jet met once more in confrontation, their complete attention focused on each other; their wills conflicting savagely over a battlefield of champions.

"A5." Sonic stated and Jet cursed loudly.

"Damn it, you sank my battleship!" The Hawk complained; admitting defeat as the last of his ships gained a golden mark. Sonic grinned from ear to ear and thrust a fist into the air in triumph.

"Yes I rule!"

Jet about faced in his chair and started to sulk.

"If you two are quite finished acting like children…" Amy started, bringing the two of them back to reality. "We're approaching Planet Kraken now."

The home world of the Combined Federation of Interstellar States was the planet Kraken, a small world overpopulated by the industries used to propel the Federation into the giant nation is was. According to Sera the only place on the surface that was hospitable enough to live in was an artificial environment build flying above the toxic surface.

The planet itself was a sickly green from space and surrounded almost completely by the Com-Fed home defence space fleet. Its stationary defences were an article ring, made from a long series of stations each with its own charged particle cannon.

"Oh that dose not look inviting." Storm muttered as Wave guided the Babylon Rogue's ship.

Sonic had to agree. Out of all the planets he had seen since leaving Earth, Kraken had to be worst looking of them all. The blue hedgehog tsked and shook his head. An entire planet, virtually destroyed by pollution and industry. This was the kind of thing he detested the most.

"You used to live here?" He asked, casting a sceptical glance at Sera. The cat-girl nodded with a look of reluctance on her face, her feline ears drooping.

"Meow…it wasn't always like this. I learned in school how before the expansion into space, Kraken was a lush world of rivers, lakes, fields, forests. Kind of looked like Fenrir, my Teacher said.

But when the people started living in space colony's and stations they cared less and less about the environment of the planet they left behind and so when the call was put out for an industry to fuel the rapid expansion, the surface was littered with factories and production facilities." She sighed out load.

"Meow. It was only after they saw the beauty of other planets that they realized what a mistake they'd made."

"They?" Amy asked with a raised eyebrow. "I thought these were your people." Sera managed a short smile in response.

"I'm a half breed." She reminded the pink hedgehog. "So technically I'm only half Krakenian. Besides that when my father went to attend political conferences on other planets he would take me with him. I've spent more of my life off this world than on it."

"Just how are we going to get in there?" Silver asked, trying to see a way past the planet's obvious near impenetrable defences.

"Simple, we apply for landing clearance." Wave replied, glancing back over her shoulder. She tilted the helm and the Rogue's ships out of its high orbit and directly towards the planet's defensive ring. From this new angle, a steady stream of traffic could be seen heading up and down from the planet, refuelling at the station's before blasting up into space or heading down to the surface.

"Perhaps we can try contacting my father. Meow." Sera commented, reaching for the communications device. Jet slapped her hand away.

"Are you nuts?" He demanded giving her a sharp glare. "We'll have Com-Fed secret service crashing down on us before we know what hits us!" The cat girl hissed at him and reached for the device anyway.

Before she could touch a button, the communicator let out a loud bleeping that filled the room.

"Incoming message?" Wave asked in surprise, looking around. "We don't know anyone on Kraken." Jet punched up the incoming transmission and a holographic screen appeared in the air above the machine.

"Well, well, well. Look who's here."

Sonic's eyes widened and he whirled around to face the grinning face of the scientist who had been his first rival.

Doctor Eggman had undergone some changes. There was no doubt he had lost weight and there was far more colour in his face than there had been in quite sometime. He had gotten rid of the goggles he wore on the top of his head and exchanged his red jacket for a newer version with thinner zip down the front.

"My and you've made new friends." The Doctor commented with a raised eyebrow, a smirk across his face. "How very sweet."

"What do you want Eggman?" Amy demanded.

"Well straight to the point eh?" The doctor replied. "Very well, through my suburb deductive abilities, I have deduced that you have come to this planet searching for information that might lead you to the Scion of Zeus. You wish to protect this Scion so that the Black Doom can not use it to open the permanent gate to Nexus."

Silver blinked.

"How did he know about the scio…?" He started to ask, looking over at Sonic. Blaze grabbed the white hedgehog from behind and clamped her hands over his mouth.

"Don't tell him that you naïve fool!" She told him as he struggled for breath. Eggman managed a wider smile.

"Well Sonic, are you planning to simply blunder into there and ask for the information?" The blue hedgehog pressed his lips together as if he was trying to stop himself from saying something rash. "Com-Fed is a more secretive organisation than G.U.N was. You'll not get a bean out of them."

Eggman leaned closer to the camera lens through which he was transmitting himself.

"We both have a common enemy here. So why not team up with me? I can help you get in there, extract the information and then we can be both off to find this Scion while my robots fend off the Confederation."

Jet cast a glance back towards the blue hedgehog as if trying to guess what his reaction might be to the offer.

"It's a better option than simply trying the front door." Wave commented. Sonic's face was like a rock.

"You expect we'd join up with you after what you did to the Earth?" The blue hedgehog asked with a good deal of venom in his voice. "Because of you uncountable numbers of people have been killed, millions more taken prisoner to work as slaves on some planet light years away from home."

Eggman paused and then there was, perhaps for the first time they had ever seen, genuine regret on his face.

"I'm not accustomed to making apologises." He admitted. "And I get the distinct impression than an apology would not be in good taste anyway.

But I will say this. Betraying the Earth… seeing the methods used by the Confederation allowed me a clarity I've not had for some time.

It allowed me to see myself as I was, rather than the image I had formed of myself in my mind. I looked at myself from the outside.

I did not like what I saw.

When I first started out my intention had been to unify, to bring those around me together in unity. An empire that would provide for all. Somewhere along the way I lost sight of that goal, becoming more interested in the acquisition of power.

And for this I thank you for thwarting me so many times."

Sonic's expression did not change.

"But if that is your decision then I shall stand by it. I wish you the best of luck." He pressed a button and the transmission ended.

"Think that was wise?" Jet asked giving Sonic a stare.

"Sonic..." Amy started coming up alongside the blue hedgehog. "He was offering help. I know you can't forgive him for what he did… all of us have that problem but this… this bigger than our petty prejudices."

There was silence for a moment before Sonic let out a long sigh.

"Yeah…" He muttered. "Yeah I know. But after Earth was taken over by the Confederation I simply wouldn't be able to trust him."

His stance was understandable and nobody decided to pursue the subject any further.

* * *

--

Eggman let out a sigh and rubbed his hands together. He hadn't been expecting any different reaction from the blue hedgehog. It was difficult for the Doctor himself to believe his change of heart was genuine, never mind Sonic so he wasn't about to expect too much.

However there was simply too much at stake to simply let the blue hedgehog do this on his own. Eggman had to know who that Scion was. The Black Doom's plan had to be stopped.

And while Sonic was a good enough agent on his own, the blue hedgehog was simply too soft hearted for what Eggman suspected had to be done.

"Becoe, ready the long range orbital rifle." He stated, pressing a button on the side of his desk.

"Becoe is currently unavailable." The voice of Bocun announced through the nearby speaker. "But I'll bring the rifle up for you. What ammunition do you wish to use Doctor?"

Eggman smiled.

"No ammunition. Simply bring me one of the electronic bugs."

"The bugs?"

"I want to do a little spying."

* * *

-

Mephiles let the body of a young human boy no older than five drop to the ground, splashing in the blood collecting on the floor. The boy was merely a husk of his former self, every ounce of life force drained out of him. All around a collection of bodies was left to rot, dried almost mummified husks.

Satisfied with this meal, Mephiles glanced out the window of the station he had stopped on to observe a ship approaching.

"Ah right on schedule." He said to himself. Sonic was here. Events were happening exactly how they were suppose to.

This stop on this planet would be brief and once Sonic discovered the scion, then things would get quite interesting. Mephiles already knew the end of this story but to him it was like re-reading a good book, one he never got tired of.

Still there was something to be sent in motion here and once it was, the Black Doom's hold over Mephiles would be shattered and the crystalline hedgehog could continue on with his true work.

"Here what's going…" A voice started and Mephiles glanced back to see someone standing in a nearby open doorway. It was a security officer, a feline male with a thick red man around his face. He was standing there looking at the bodies with an expression of utter horror on his face.

Mephiles' spread his lips, showing his jagged teeth. He laughed out load, relishing in the terror of that delicious expression.

"You… you monster!" The feline cried out, trying to rush Mephiles. His speed greatly exceeding that of the felines, the crystalline hedgehog simply sidestepped to avoid the lunge and as the cat past him Mephiles lashed out. He grabbed an arm and with little effort, tore it clean off.

The feline didn't have time to scream as Mephiles laid a hand on his shoulder and through that contact, drained him of his life force. His body shrivelled up like a raisin and his mouth remained hung open in a forever silent scream.

"Once I have Iblis I shall miss these feedings. The fear and pain taste all so sweet."

* * *

-

Confederation forces had been driven off the Earth's surface and fleeing from the fire power of the combined Black Arm, Imperial Guard and G.U.N fleets, they were attempting to escape from the solar system. This would not be the end of it however. The Confederation crew, under the influence of the Black Doom, were out for blood. They would regroup and once their power was consolidated they would return and destroy that planet completely. Every living thing on its surface would perish.

As they cleared Mars, the Confederation were surprised to find yet another fleet coming at them.

"Com-Fed?!" Their admiral declared in utter horror. Over a dozen ships from both the Federation and the Falcon Admiralty were moving to intercept them and leading the attack was a large Predator class attack vessel. Its forward guns opened fire in a blaze of power that shot down several of the fleeing vessels.

A pair of large metallic doors on the side of the Predator ship pulled themselves apart and something moved forward. With a burst of speed, this fighter moved out towards them. It was so fast the Confederation couldn't lock on to counter attack. The fighter was moving simply too swiftly and whenever their sensors tried to hone in on it, it moved like lightning.

They could not know that were not facing just any fighter. They were facing the Diablon, G.U.N's ultimate mech; a unique fusion of synthetic organic muscle and machine parts and armour. Outfitted with new Com-Fed armour and ballistics it was now faster, stronger and more deadly than ever before.

It slid through the streams of retaliatory fire with ease, coming in so close that iw as impossible to defend. The Confederate fesonians looked up in startled alarm at the metallic face of the giant mech as its single eye flash bright blue.

The explosion ripped the ship in half, the debris flying out in all directions. Silhouetted by the light of the blast, the Diablon soared forward. Its massive metallic fist sank into the bridge of the next vessel and grabbing hold the mech tore its entire front open, exposing its interior to the vacuum of space.

"Wait! Please stop!" The captain of the last ship cried, slamming his fist down on the communications console. "Please… let us go. We won't come back to this planet ever again! We promise! You can have it, please just show mercy!"

"Mercy?" The reply came over the console as the red mech with glowing blue eyes turned to face the fleeing vessel. "Did you show the Earth any mercy? Did you show us mercy when you came to our planet, took our people as slaves? When you shipped them off to some god forsaken mine on another planet to work?"

The glow from the eyes intensified ten fold.  
"You don't deserve mercy."

A large mechanical army was raised, revealing a large laser projectile.

"Okida, Topaz… stop it." Another voice over the broadcast stated. There was a white ship approaching the mech from behind, accompanying the Predator class ship at the front of the fleet. "We don't kill people when they beg for mercy."

On the Blue Typhoon, Rouge had pushed Lt. Milford aside and was speaking to the two of them very sternly.

"Don't sink down to their level. Let them go."

"After what they did?" Okida asked, his mind joined with Topaz' through the Diablon's pilot system. "They kidnapped half our planet! Killed thousands."

Rouge however was not to be swayed.

"Its one ship, Okida. No threat. Show them we're made of better stuff. Let them go."

There was a long dramatic pause before the Diablon lowered its weapon the Confederation ship was allowed to flee unmolested.

Okida hoped Rouge's act of compassion might perhaps sway the Confederates but seeing the way they thought and the Black Doom's ironclad control over their lives, he doubted it.

"There is it, we're finally back." Hare muttered, trying not to cry as the Earth came within view. He failed miserably and finally had no choice but to let the tears roll down his cheeks. Bark patted him on the back with a sympathetic hand.

"This is your world?" Talos asked, stepping up and receiving his first view of the planet. "It's… its beautiful. Even more than Hydra had been."

Hyper however did not look that impressed. She scorned the Earth, preferring not to look at it as they descended. Either she did this because she detested the idea of living on someone else's world or she'd do this to any planet after Hydra's destruction and the Earth just happened to be the planet before her.

There was a reception awaiting them when their fleet descended towards the ruins of Capital City. This reception, for once, was not some angry guard of fanatical cult attempting to kill them.

For once in four years their welcome wagon was a crowd of people, mobians and humans alike, cheering loudly. It was a thick, roaring and very satisfying sound that filled Amy's heart with a kind of joy she never thought possible.

Admiral Rikoye and the present commander of the Imperial Fesonian Guard were there to greet them when they landed.

"This is a day that will long be remembered by our people." A speech was being made as the ramp from the massive white ship lowered. "For all ours peoples! We have taken the first steps to freeing all worlds from the tyranny of the Dooms Eye and the Black Doom!"

"So… so that's it then?" Rouge asked, hardly trusting herself to ask the question. "The Earth is free?"

There was a sudden growth of tension and excitement as the reality of the situation began to dawn on them all. It had been years now since the Confederation had overrun the planet and Dark Oak had cast them into outer space and now… here they all where, back home, just as Sonic said they would be.

There was a very heavy silence.

It was broken when Bean thrust his fist into the air and declared in the loudest voice he could…

"Drinks are on me!" A roar from the entire crew responded; followed by loud cheers and adulation. The movement was slow at first but eventually, when people realized what had happened, the celebration began to spread. It started at the depot and then moved out across Central City.

"As much as we'd all like to believe it's over, it's not." Knuckles muttered but the roar of the crowd did not hear him. Cream however did and looked up at him curiously.

"What do you mean? We got Earth back."

The red echidna scowled and turned his gaze skyward. The rabbit followed his gaze and looked up the new satellite in orbit around the Earth, the massive planet sized construction known only at the Angel Wing; freed by the Black Doom from the sanctuary of Prometheus and placed here for whatever scheme the demonic creature had in store for the universe.

It loomed over them like the blade of a poised guillotine, ready to crash down on this happy celebration.

"Believe me Cream, the worst is yet to come."


	60. Epsiode 30, part 2

A full four days had past since they had arrived back on Earth and still Shadow had not moved.

He hadn't eaten or slept and now his behaviour was sending the female Echidna crazy. Why wouldn't he just snap out of it? Why did he have to leave her alone like this?

Come dusk on that forth day, they were discovered.

A lone human, who seemingly knew where they were, walked through the ruins of Station Square directly towards their makeshift camp. As he neared, the sky cracked open once more and it started to rain heavily.

Tikal stood there watching the man but he strode past her directly towards Shadow.

He was in his sixties with wrinkled tanned skin and grey hair which had grown long and hung around his shoulders. His eyes were different colours, one sea blue and the other brown. The tattered remains of a G.U.N uniform hung on his thin frame.

She gasped as the barrel of a pistol was aimed directly at the dark hedgehog's head. This, Shadow had to pay attention to.

"It's been fifty years… fifty long years." Jericho Mandarin, former head of the G.U.N federation and now commander of their resistance effort, began with hate surging across his face. "Now…finally; my long wait is over." Shadow forced himself up to his feet and turned to face the commander completely.

"I knew…I knew when I saw the destruction of everything around me that you were to blame. The Confederation… the Black Doom… that thing in the sky!"

He held his gun higher.

"It is isn't it?"

All Shadow could do was nod once. Jericho's face contorted with intense anger.

"You've condemned all of us. Earth might be free for the brief moment but all too soon this planet is going to be destroyed and it's your entire fault."

"I…I didn't…."

"What? You didn't know? Since when does that matter?" Jericho was fuming with rage. "Evil begins evil. That what I learned that day, over fifty years ago." His hands were shaking but his grip on the weapon remained tight. "It began with the ARK and now it ends with the rest of humanity. Because of you everything I've ever known or loved was seared to smoke and ashes.

What's Maria's life enough for you?"

Regaining some of his old flame, Shadow stamped forward confrontationally.

"Maria?" He demanded. "What do you know about Maria?"

"Growing up as a colonist on the ARK, I hadn't a single friend.

My parents were always far too busy with the colony's biology research and I was left to fend for myself.

I would have withered away in that sterile environment had she not come to my aid." Mandarin hissed.

"Maria was the only one who so much as talked to me outside my own family. She was like a sister to me, and because of your mere existence she ended up with a bullet in her back!" Shadow just stood there, unable to move.

"I was ten years old." The commander began, close to tears. "Ten years old when I saw that pact made…."

----------------

"Jericho, come back here!" Maria called after the silver haired boy as he ran through the metallic corridors of the space colony. "I'll catch you yet." The blonde haired girl about five to six years older than the boy ran after him.

"Can't catch me Maria." Jericho laughed, pausing long enough to suggestively smack his own backside at her. Maria scowled and before the boy could stop her, grabbed him from behind and ground her knuckles against his head. "Hey stop that!" He called out.

"Ok short stuff." The girl replied affectionately letting him go. "How about a different game?" As their parents were scientists within the ARK's various laboratories it left them with much free time. There was little in the way of schooling here yet and generally most of the children here were overly intelligent to begin with.

"Hide and seek then." Jericho laughed a wide smile. Maria stood up and nodded.

"Ok then."

"You count."

"Why me?"

"Because that hurt." He rubbed the top of his head for emphasis, blinking his sea blue eye at her. Maria rolled her eyes and sighed out load.

"Ok, then." She turned to face the wall and put her hands behind her back. "Just don't get lost like that time."

"I won't." Jericho called back as he broke into a run. "And no peaking." Maria fully closed her eyes and growled.

"Ten…nine…eight….seven…" Jericho had only been on the ARK for a year and a half, but knew most of the best hiding places. Unfortunately Maria had been here longer and knew most of them as well. He really wanted to give her a run for her money this time and kept going, ducking through multitudes of corridors. He knew the ARK's complicated layout almost perfectly so the mere notion of getting lost did not occur to him, unless he ventured into the central areas where it happened last time.

Ten seconds had already elapsed and he could hear Maria's footsteps nearby. He pressed himself behind a corner and held his breath. He watched her shadow on the floor as he slowly moved off.

"Close one…" Glancing up, he saw a large metallic door leading away from the corridor nearby. It was ajar a bit and he could hear voices coming from beyond. It was not a place he was familiar with. He heard footsteps nearby and assuming it was Maria, he slipped inside.

Through the crack in the door, he watched the blonde haired girl walk past.

"He's getting better at this…" She muttered before walking off down another corridor. Jericho giggled lightly to himself.

"Impressive Gerald; truly a spectacular achievement, especially for a species such as yours."

An unfamiliar voice stated from behind him. Jericho whirled around to see that he was standing at the outer edge of a large round chamber with equipment lining the outer walls. Cables, wires and other mechanical devices curved down from the middle of the ceiling to the floor. His view of the main working area was half blocked by a metal wall.

Not wishing to be discovered ease dropping and being naturally curious; Jericho tiptoed up to the short wall and peered in through a small opening. He gasped out load at the sight that beheld him.

Prof. Gerald Robotnik, the lead Scientist for the ARK's biological development was standing nearby with slumped shoulders. The old man with a large moustache was not what immediately drew the boy's attention. Rather it the transparent form of a demonic looking creature, more horrific than anything he had seen before or ever wished to see again. Two long horns lanced out ether side of the head, the corn adorned with smaller spikes. The creature hadn't any legs; it was simply a large torso with wide arms. Wrapped over it were dark robes and golden chains. Its entire body was faded and Jericho could see the other side of the room through it.

"Yes he's perfect." Gerald agreed, staring at the equipment before them. The old man was standing in the way. Jericho couldn't see exactly what they were looking at. "A perfect genetic procreation and enhancement. This improves upon my prototype without a question."

"Yes that ugly thing." The demonic being chuckled sounding amused. "I still find it hard to believe such a deformed creature came from me."

"I don't." Gerald muttered under his breath. "The gestation period should only be a month or two, and the growth from infanthood to maturity should only last a maximum of four years."

"Excellent."

"I only pray I am not too late." A clawed three fingers hand laid itself down gently on the Professor's shoulder.

"Have faith my friend." The demon told him. "You have made a wise decision in taking your pre-emptive action against the growing evil on the Earth. Follow our plan and all will be fine, I promise." Gerald sighed loudly.

"I certainly hope you are right." He reached forward and ran his hands across the keyboard. Jericho watched memorized as a large glass cylinder slowly swung forward, a green glow emanating for it. His face contorted with horror at the sight that met his eyes.

"Gerald, you can not comprehend what you have set in motion.

The Vikings called this new life the Nidhogg, the herald that would precede Ragnarok. Through him my dear Professor, greed and corruption throughout this universe will be destroyed and true righteous order restored."

Jericho staggered back. "Behold…SHADOW!" Floating in the green liquid, an oxygen mask attached to the face as a strange creature. It was black and spiky like a hedgehog, with long flowing quills that each had a crimson streak. It was barely the size of a baby and curled up like an infant. Wires attached to its body ran from the top of the cylinder, life sign readings read off on the monitor.

The scream died even before it left the boy's throat as a pair of blood red eyes snapped open.

----

"I was there… I saw it all!" Fifty years on, Jericho Mandarin stated his trembling hand clenched around the gun. Shadow just knelt there, stunned into a catatonic state by the revelations. "The pact made with the devil to bring the herald of Armageddon to life!"

"So…" Shadow began half under his breath. "The Professor…he created me…with… with Black Doom?" It seemed too impossible to imagine. Jericho was the scared boy he had seen on ARK only once all those years ago.

Suddenly the obvious smacked it him in the face and the staggering implications were so monumental that Shadow felt like an idiot for not seeing it sooner.

He'd been used from the beginning.

"You don't fool me!" The commander declared. "It's not just about what happened to Maria. Because of you, the entire ARK's population was either killed or imprisoned. Families destroyed and separated forever, including my own." Memories burned behind Jericho's eyes. The day of the raid on the colony, rushing home only to fin soldiers standing over the blood covered corpses of his parents. "I knew even as I gazed at their bodies what had happened." Tears formed in the corners of his eyes. "I have you to thank for this reminder of all I lost." He held his free hand against the scar on his chin. Slowly his arm raised higher "Finally, justice is served!"

"Go ahead." Shadow muttered gazing down at the floor.

"What?" The commander began looking suddenly a little confused.

"If what you say is true, then what right have I to go on even existing?" Shadow asked with his head hung low. "All I can do now is respectfully accept my fate." Jericho's finger hovered above the trigger as he hesitated.

"Shadow what are you doing?" Tikal demanded in utter fear.

"What's wrong? I thought this was the revenge you waited fifty years for?" The black hedgehog asked the commander, ignoring her. "Perhaps you were expecting a more climatic ending? Or for me to at least fight back? It didn't occur to you that you weren't the only one who Maria meant everything to."

"You dare…" Jericho began with a hiss.

"Just get on with it." Shadow put in before the ranting could continue. "If I have to die, at least I can take solace in the fact it's by the hands of an ARK colonist." A clap of thunder resonated through the sky and it began to rain, the droplets soaking the commander's now uncut hair so it hung around his shoulders. Shadow's quills sagged a little and the ground began to foam with mud.

Jericho's hand was shaking as he had to steady it as it gripped the gun, slowly tightening around the trigger as his fact twisted up with conflicting emotions.

"Stop!" Tikal shouted. The commander glanced up and Shadow slowly raised his head to see her standing there with her dreadlocks clogged. "This isn't the answer." She continued on with tears in her eyes.

"No, I'm not going to let him get away with all he's done." The commander replied sharply, snapping back.

"You don't understand." Shadow muttered with a short smile. "Let him shoot. Let him end my miserable existence."

"And what then Shadow huh?" Tikal demanded angrily. "You'll just be gone and your death will have absolutely no affect on events. It'll simply be a waste, a meaningless waste."

"Meaningless?" Both Shadow and Jericho asked in unison.

"This is not meaningless." The commander emphasised in anger. "This is justice for fifty years of pain and anguish, justice for the millions across the galaxy who will die as a direct result of his actions."

"There's no point Jericho." She told him with a sigh. "Even if you shoot him right now, it won't bring back your family. Nothing in the world can do that and revenge certainly won't." The commander's face contorted in anguish. "They're gone…" Those last two words were like sledgehammer blows and Jericho sank to his knees dropping the gun in the process. It skidded across the ground and came to a stop just before Shadow.

For the first time in fifty years, Jericho cried like a child. Tears he had been holding back his entire life bursting forth.

"Perhaps it won't." Shadow stated as he rose to his feet, with the gun in his grasp. Without a word he held the barrel to his head. "But that doesn't change the fact that I still deserve death." Tikal's expression was comprised more of anger than fear at the sight.

"Shadow haven't you got it yet?" She demanded. "A life doesn't equal a life. You could die right here and now and it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to anyone. This isn't justice you think you're enacting, it's simply suicide." Without warning Jericho reached up and slapped Shadow's hand hard. The gun flew from it and sank into the mud nearby.

"She's right." The commander sobbed almost silently. "It's not worth it. It never was." He looked down at his hands before descending into a pit of despair. "More death won't help us now." Silence, broken only by the thunder and lightning above descended over all three of them. Jericho just knelt there in the mud, a mere parody of his former self; all of the iron will that had made him famous drained away in an instant.

* * *

The trip through Kraken's automated defences had a breeze so nobody expected the secondary defence grid to suddenly, without reason or warning, open fire on them.

The Babylon Rouge's ship was hit hard and it was sent into a free fall, plunging through the atmosphere on a collision course with the surface.

Using the Emerald he had, Sonic was able to prevent the crash, teleporting the ship back onto its flight path but still travelling at break neck speeds the landing was not smooth.

Almost as soon as they landed on the only habitable bit of Kraken, the flying landmass kept aloft above the polluted industrial wasteland below, they were attacked again and this time with soldiers.

They hadn't counted on a retaliatory methods employed by Silver and Blaze, for the two of them now made a good team; combining their telekinetic abilities.

With this opening, Sonic was able to get everyone else out of the ship before the aggressor's backup arrived.

"That's my ship you're abandoning!" Jet screamed angrily before a volley of laser fire rang out, several soldiers taking pot shots at them from a platform above.

"Tell them that." Sonic replied.

Meeting back up with Silver and Blaze just ahead, they managed to escape the spaceport but these mysterious attackers were everywhere. They came at them from cars, from hidden positions within buildings and even from several overhead flying vehicles.

"This a regular day for you?" Blaze remarked, before wrenching a piece of the sidewalk up using her mind and using it at a projectile knocked a man unconscious.

"Hey you think this is bad, you should have been my last birthday shindig." Sonic remarked.

Suddenly, a long black limousine like car (or what looked like a car) came flying around the corner and knocked a guy who was trying to jump Amy from behind over.

The door swung open and man inside beaconed to them.

"Quickly inside!" The man stated loudly, gesturing for them to climb into the vehicle. With dozens more soldiers coming out of the occupied spaceport, they really didn't have much of a choice. Bundling all of them in was a small challenge but under fire it was quickly done.

Even before the door shut after them, the car was flying down the street with laser fire flying after them.

"Daddy?" Sera started, looking up at the man who had come to their rescue. "Daddy is that you?"

The President of the Combined Federation for Interstellar States was a man who bore little to no resemblance to his daughter. He had the basic same hair colour but that was where the genetic heritage ended.

No feature on him was cat like so Sera's feline appearance was definitely from the mother.

He was plump, with a thick moustache and beard, his hair set in a middle parting. His ears were pointed and strangely elfen like. His eyes were small in his face and so was his nose, the cheeks being the largest feature.

His clothes were bright, with medals for military service and a decorated sash.

"You should not have come here." He told them all sternly, but his eyes on his daughter. "You're lives are all in danger the longer you remain on Kraken.

At least with you away I knew these idiots would had a hard time finding you. When I learned you were coming home, I had to arrange something quickly."

"Just what is going on here?" Wave demanded, trying to pull herself out of Storm's armpit. "Who are those guys shooting at us?"

"The Order of Thunder is still after you." The President replied flatly.

"Say what?" Sonic asked in annoyance. "I thought we left those Zealots behind on Fenris!"

"They're a vindictive sort and you a made a mistake in crossing them Sonic the hedgehog." The President held up a hand to silence Sonic before the hedgehog could ask the next obvious question. "And yes I know who you all are. My intelligence service is the best in the known galaxy. My administration has been aware of all you've movements since you arrived on Chimera."

He looked Sonic directly in the eye.

"I'm taking you to the other spaceport on the other side of the city. You can take my personal cruiser. Just get off this planet before either the Black Doom of these Zeus fanatics kill you or my daughter."

"We can't leave…er… Mr. President sir." Piranha added, quickly remembering to by civil. "There's information here and we can not leave without it!"

"Whatever it is it's not worth you're lives." The President told him.

"Not even Solaris?" Amy asked slowly.

That caused the man to have what looked like a mental hiccup.

"Solaris?" The President repeated. "That's….that's just an outlandish conspiracy theory. There has never been any Federation involvement in…" He stopped when he realised that everyone, including his own daughter was staring at him with disapproving looks on their faces.

"This really isn't the time to pull the old 'cover up' card on us." Sonic told him. "We know Solaris took place and it's our only way of stopping this situation from getting a whole lot worse. You want the Black Doom in charge of the Galaxy? No?

Then drop the wide-eyes routine and cough up the info."

"Look, even if I have a crisis on my hands I can't start going about blurting out top level government secrets to my daughters friends."

"You want me to break his legs?" Storm asked, flexing his knuckles suggestively.

"You can't physically threaten the President of the Federation!" Piranha told him in disbelief.

"He's not MY president." Jet remarked callously. "Storm… forget the legs. Got for the fingers, we'll get more out of him then."

"Barbarians." Wave sighed, before turning to the President. "Look, we need that information. Our time is running out. We're in a race and if the Black Doom beats us to the prize…" She spread her arms suggestively. "Then that's it for all of us."

"Daddy please…"

"Alright alright." The President started. "you have a good point."

"So…" Sonic went on as their vehicle rounded a corner and they entered what appeared to be a massive industrial area.

"About fifteen years ago when I first came to power, a discovery was made on the planet Fenrir."

"Fenrir?" The blue hedgehog repeated. "You mean the name Fenrir with the city of Soleanna? Ruled by a royal family?" The president nodded.

"The very same. Archaeologists were exploring the ancient ruins of the Titans there. It was an Order of Thunder backed operation. The order was looking for physical evidence of their patron saint, Zeus. Or at least that was what they told the Combined Federation.

During their investigation they came across a large cache of preserved technology which had lain undisturbed for thousands of years and as such was in working quality."

"Bah, you people should know better than to play around with technology you don't understand." Jet remarked coldly, leaning on the dashboard and looking out the window to make sure they weren't being followed.

"Well that was our idealist's argument." The President continued. "But eventually they were swung over when we discovered precisely what that cache was.

It was a laboratory, where we believed the ancient Titans had experimented with new sources of energy. They did so by creating a warp in space and pulling the energy they required from the ether, a process through which power could be taken from thin air."

"Remarkable." Piranha stated. "Such technology could revolutionise the entire known galaxy." The President smiled with a tart nod.

"Now you see now why we became so interested."

"And now I understand why the Order had such a powerful presence on Fenrir." Amy added. "Their cathedral was there… as well as Prometheus' Orrery. They were there to protect their discovery."

"You didn't wonder why they were there when the main religion of the planet was Asgard worship?" The President asked. "Anyway, they asked my government for specialist help in return for whatever beneficial findings they discovered. We agreed and the local ruling monarchy supplied the funding."

"Which is why Solomon handed me over to them before." Sonic muttered under his breath.

"The project was dubbed S.O.L.A.R.I.S, named after some silly legend about the first form of life, and carried on for about five years. We made quite a lot of progress understanding the titans during that time. We translated their language, understood their scriptures, learned much about their culture and civilisation and how their technology worked to a great degree.

But all that was overshadowed by the instructions we found."

"Instructions?" Silver repeated. "What instructions?"

"It's bizarre… but in amongst the ancient machinery we found step by step instructions on how to crystallise the energy we could pull from the ether, enrich it to the point where it was almost portable.

It was almost as if they knew we would find their equipment on how to create these crystals. Gemstones containing unbelievable amounts of condensed energy."

At this point silenced seemed to grip them all complete, eyes wide in utter stunned amazement.

"Only strangely as soon as we made seven of them, we couldn't get anymore energy from the ether. It was like it had decided we'd had enough. No matter we did the machinery refused to work. Seven was all we could make."

"You don't think…" Amy started, looking towards Sonic. The blue hedgehog sat there with a very stern look on his eyes, his dark emerald eyes narrowing slightly. "Is that possible? I mean… if what you saw in Prometheus' realm was correct then they created Angel Island but… but this…"

Sonic reached into his quills and grabbed a hold of an object he had placed inside a clump.

"These gemstones you created… do they look anything like this?" He held the only Chaos Emerald that had not fallen into the clutches of the Black Doom up for them all to see.

The President stared at it, his eyes widened and face changing to an expression of stunned awed.

"I… no it can't be." He leaned closer to get a better look. "It is! Its one of them… a little different shaped though. Ours were cut emeralds while this is more diamond but it's undoubtedly of the same ilk."

"Then I think we just discovered who created the Chaos Emeralds." Sonic muttered with his theory now confirmed. "The Ancient Titans did, carving them from the power of the universe itself." Then he glared right at the President. "And you carved out another seven? You know how much trouble this original set has caused over the years?

Now there are fourteen emeralds! Com-Fed and everything else is finished if the Black Doom gets his hands on them."

The President chuckled looking amused.

"Even if he did it wouldn't do him much good." He stated. "While our set were powerful they were also extremely unstable. They had to be kept cold or else the energy they contained would be released with devastating effect. And even when contained in liquid nitrogen we could not control their power, they'd lash out at us violently when we tried."

"This containment unit was devolved by the lead scientist on the project, Professor Booboski." The President Stated.

Sonic pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing but a slight giggle escaped him anyway.

"Oh grow up." Amy told him sternly.

"We have to get them, these new Emeralds have to be taken with us." Wave remarked.

The President nodded.

"For once I agree. With these zealots here on Kraken they may try to take them. Its best if they got off this rock was quickly as possible."

The car was directed to an, apparently, abandoned refinery deep within this small industrial sector. Most of Kraken's industry was down on the surface but small refineries like this one had to be kept up here in order to process the fuel that kept the city up above the pollution.

This one however was just a cover. The President, after getting out the car, led them to an elevator shaft that led them down several floors before they emerged at an underground chamber. After passing through several security doors they finally arrived at a large vault door with the letters 'S.O.L' engraved in it.

The President pulled out a key card and slid it through the slot on the side.

As the door swung pulled itself open, a blast of ice cold air shot out; engulfing them and making those not prepared for it shiver involuntarily. Sonic however stood there transfixed, feeling a sudden uncomfortable feeling creep over him. It was like the feeling one would get when death was approaching, a strange inner coldness. It made Sonic feel quite sick and the urge to vomit had to be fought against.

The chamber inside the door was small and encased with dozens of metallic plates coating the curving spherical walls. Vents were venting a constant supply of cold air towards a single pillar placed directly in the middle.

Stepping around the mess of wires, cables and pipes laden on the floor the President approached this pillar.

"Security access 5.9, voice code; Solaris." He stated loudly. The machinery around him wired and licked in response.

"Acknowledged." A monotone computer voice replied and a coating of protective metallic sheets that covered the pillars moved down sheet by sheet. As they pulled aside a soft light began to flow out almost like a mist on the cold air.

Sonic gagged, his eyes bulging. He held one hand to his stomach and the other to his mouth.

"Sonic… Sonic what's wrong?" Amy asked, coming to his side as the blue hedgehog collapsed to one knee.

Sonic managed a glance up at what was contained within a small glass section within that pillar. Hovering there, suspended by some unseen force; were seven cut emerald shaped jewels.

Like the Chaos emeralds they were all different colours; red, yellow, blue, orange, green, grey and one jet black.

"When we finished refining them, the Order of Thunder dubbed them Sol Emeralds." The President stated. "They handed them over to us and kept the technology that created them, even though they could not use it."

"They're energy it's…." Sonic started. "I know that energy… its negative. Negative Chaos Energy."

He shuddered and backed off. "Please… take them away from me!"

"Meow. What's wrong?" Sera asked leaning over him to see what the matter was.

"He was exposed to Negative Chaos energy before." Amy told her. "It wasn't a nice experience."

In Sonic's mind, the memories of Dark Super Sonic flashed across his perception, only now a thousand times more powerful than before.

Taking in the energy of the nine fake emeralds the Machine Federation had created, he had transformed into a demonic version of his true Super form and in that state he had almost destroyed everything he held dear. It was only a miracle that allowed Amy to save him from that terrible fate.

Seeing the hedgehog's distress, the President pulled up the silver briefcase he had been carrying and pressed a button on the side. The container opened slow, showing that its briefcase shaped was a façade. Actually inside it was a miniature cooling unit.

He opened the glass pillar centre and took hold of these strange Sol Emeralds and placed them one by one into the container. Once they were inside, he snapped it shut hiding them from view.

Sonic took several long deep breaths as the feeling of utter sickness began to dissipate.

"It went wrong didn't it?" Miles asked. "The Project." The president nodded loosely.

"Horribly." He stated. "About ten years ago now some of the Order's more fundamentalist types wanted to use the dimensional travelling aspect of the technology we acquired to travel to another dimensional realm and explore. It was a first for our science and there were those sceptical it was worth the risk.

Eventually however we agreed and the Experiment was conducted, using the Sol Emeralds as a power source to open the gate and the king to keep it open."

"Why do I suddenly get the feeling I'm not going to like the way this is going to turn out?" Sonic asked looking trepid.

"As soon as they opened that gate it was clearly they had other intentions than what they told us.

The compound of Fenrir was awash with their warriors and they took control of the building.

They began marshalling them through the gate as if they were attempting an invasion."

"An invasion of what?" Sonic asked.

"A hellish place." The President replied. "The sky there was a sickly green and it was awash with a river of putrid slime."

The Blue Hedgehog and the golden furred fox looked at each other for a moment.

"Nexus." They said together followed by a long groan.

"They wanted to attack the Black Doom before he could marshal his armies." Silver interrupted. "A noble ambition."

"Noble it might have been but the results were not that encouraging." The President told him sternly. "Not only did they attempt to destroy the Black Doom, they even tried to enter that prison within a prison; Tartarus and incapacitate the unmaker, Iblis himself."

"Wait… Solomon held that gate open?" Sonic asked. "How would he do that?"

"He couldn't, it wouldn't be possible." Tails stated looking just was puzzled. Sudden realization poured onto his face. "Unless…"

"Unless he was of the ancient bloodlines!" Silver finished for him, picking up on it. "He must be the one we've been looking for! His family is the bloodline we've been looking for!"

"Solomon is the only heir his father had." The President told them. "Every direct family member has perished."

"Accept for his daughter." Amy began looking horrified. "Elise as well!"

"That's all I needed to hear." A voice stated, coming from the blue hedgehog's quills.

Sonic reached up in alarm and removed something that had been tucked right behind his ear. It looked like a dart but was actually a listening device. Eggman had fired it from orbit, hitting Sonic and this planted electronic device had allowed him to listen in on the whole thing.

"Just what are you doing?" Sonic demanded.

"That's very simple hedgehog, I'm going to solve all our problems." The Doctor replied, knitting his fingers together in front of himself as the Egg Carrier started to move away from Kraken. "If I understand this correctly then the Black Doom can not emerge in our universe without this… royal family. If they die then we can all go home, game over."

"Don't you dare! You can't trade one life for another!"

"You're not seeing the bigger picture here, old friend. I will not allow this universe to fall under the Black Doom's stranglehold and if killing some insignificant family is what it takes to stop him… then so be it!"

He cut off the communication.


	61. Episode 31, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

Episode: 31: The destiny of royalty

* * *

Iblis… the flames of disaster. Years ago he was sealed inside Tatarus in order to prevent him from devouring one universe after another as had been his intent so long ago.

But Iblis was not the ultimate threat that Queen Illumina feared. Iblis was a concern but if what the queen had foreseen in the Precious Stone was correct then a being of power that would make even Iblis himself cringe would soon rise.

"I think its time we had a discussion Illumina, that one we've been putting off for a while now."

The queen looked back to see that striding into her chamber with no consideration for protocol, followed closely behind by his supports whom he had called upon in his civil war. They were all clad in their battle armour and their weapons where in their hands. Her guards outside the doors had been knocked unconscious and tied up.

"What is the meaning of this?" Several of the council asked, standing up in their seats as Void's armoured Seedrians burst in.

"Be silent." Void snapped at the council and alongside him came the legendary Titan, the ancient Seedrian known as Iapetus who until recently had gone by the title of Dark Oak.

"You too Lumina Flowlight?" Illumina asked, spotting that amongst Void's supporters was the female Seedrian who had once been her prize acolyte.

"I am not afraid of the truth. I wish to see it." Lumina replied, confirming what Illumina had always suspected about her loyalties, standing side by side with Void.

"We know who…or rather…what you are, dear queen." Void started, jabbing a finger at her. "And we think this charade has gone on long enough."

"Are you ordering me Void?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I am Rhea!"

The queen hesitated, hearing the name that had been all but forgotten by the universe.

"Rhea?" The whisper began to pass through the council. They all knew that name, at least now. In response to the re-emergence of the Black Doom they were all brushing up on Titan legends.

Illumina straightened herself up, spreading all six of her golden wings outside almost in a challenging gesture.

Void remained steadfast.

"Enough of the pious nonsense, Titaness. We don't have time for it." He told her with an intensely annoyed tone. "We're all going to be killed unless we work together. This is not the time to consolidate your religious position. This is the time for truth. If not then we loose."

The Queen paused.

"We face a terrible threat now and unless we cooperate, right here and now we might as well simply sit here and wait for oblivion."

There was a pregnant silence and the council fully expected the queen to completely annihilate the upstart.

"As usual Void you have proven yourself far wiser than me." The queen stated and the entire council, even those on Void's side, looked at her with wide eyes and dropped jaws at her confession.

Even Void looked a little taken aback.

"You have always been able to put me back in my place, to reaffirm reality to me. I've been like a spoiled child, blinded by my own hubris. Even so much that I tried to seal you inside Radiant Emerald to keep you away… but still you found a way back."

Void cringed, trying to forget the endless twilight of that collapsed sub-dimension.

"Perhaps the reason you came to be was simply to harass me… in order to make me grow up."

She clasped her hands together.

"I adopted the title 'Illumina' to lead my people through a difficult time but soon I forgot who I truly was and while I may not appreciate my heritage, it is still a part of me and I can not deny it."

Her six golden wings glowed brightly and then with a sudden flush, they merged together to become a single pair. Slowly she shrank, becoming smaller and smaller before she was hardly any taller than Void himself. Her chestnut brown hair changed and became petal like folds of neon blue. Her skin paled, becoming a very pale peach instead of its usual violet.

Her eyes opened and instead of being pupil less, they were now almost normal with a very colourful blue outline

"Forgive me my people, for I have deceived you. The Queen Illumina you worshiped was a construct, a disguise I had woven around myself to hide within. Over time I lost sight of the fact it was a mere disguise and I actually believed I was a goddess.

I apology for leading you on as long as I did."

She turned to look directly at the Titan who was standing beside Void. Iapetus gained a large smirk.

He lowered his head in a respectful gesture.

"Your majesty, Queen Rhea." He announced. "It's been a long time."

"Indeed it has Iapetus, perhaps too long." She suddenly looked at him with pleading eyes. "Can my brother be saved, gentle sir? Is there still some hope that he might be redeemed?"

Iapetus regarded in for a moment, intense pity in his eyes before he slowly shook his head.

"To my eternal regret, I am afraid not. Your brother, my sire the Lord Cronos is gone. He has been completely subsumed by the Black Doom. As have the other Metarex, they are beyond redemption."

"But you are restored." Rhea's tone was pleading.

"I owe that to the invention of Krish, who was able to revive my mind. The others are beyond aid.

I know how much you want to believe that your brother is alive somewhere within but all that remains in the demon who will release Iblis and the Flames of Disaster.

He must be stopped."

For a brief moment Rhea appeared as if she might burst into tears but like a true woman of nobility she held them back and maintained her composure.

"The Black Doom will find no victory awaiting in the jaws of Iblis, for the flames of disaster will not burn. Another threat rises; one that has to the power to destroy reality itself. The destruction of planets will mean nothing compared to the annihilation that awaits us… when the aspects of creation and destruction are reunited."

"M'lady I am afraid I do not follow." Iapetus admitted.

"Iblis is only one half of the whole, you know that Iapetus." Rhea reminded him. "After all, my brother did expose you and the other Metarex to the ancient knowledge. There is a plot beyond the escape of the Titan Metarex, one to bring about the resurrection of Solaris itself."

Iapetus gasped and staggered back in shock and horror.

"Void, ready the army. We strike now, hard and fast." Rhea declared, turning to face her subordinate. "We must destroy the Angel Wing, before the gate can open and Iblis emerges."

"Solaris…" Void repeated. He knew that name all too well. It was a legend, even amongst the Seedrians… Iblis they knew all to well to be real… but Solaris was another matter.

He swallowed hard, blinked and then realised he was being addressed. He coughed, snapped his heals together and bowed low.

"As you command, Queen Rhea."

* * *

The warrior people of the northern wastes of Fenrir had evolved as a warrior race. As such, their bodies matured quicker and childhood lasted two to three years. As her father was a northerner Princess Elise had inherited this peculiar genetic trait. As such she aged far quicker than average, although slower than a pure blooded northern.

In the space of four years she had the body and mind of a seven year old. The aging was slowing down and was expected to return to normal levels by the time she was chronologically about 6 and mentally about 15.

"But why do I have to do this, daddy, it sucks."

Today she was grumpy because, as she had 'technically' reached the appropriate age it was now her responsibility to light the fires in the Festival of the Sun.

"Every ruling monarch has to lit the fires each festival." King Solomon told her quite sternly. "And since you're going to be queen someday you might as well get used to it."

He would not warrant any argument after that and so here Elise was, heading down one of the cities canals on the barge, heading into the Arena that housed the pyre she was supposed to light… alone… in front of thousands of people.

Still, Elise had to admit, the fireworks were certainly a fine sight to behold.

As the barge reached the pyre in the centre of the arena; the high ranking priests from the Order of Thunder were there to greet them.

There three of them, Elise forgot their names and cared little to remember. She didn't overly share the zealot like fanaticism the south of Fenrir had in regards to the worship of Zeus.

This might be put down to her father raising her in the values of the northern culture but Elise preferred to think of it as her own distaste.

The pyre of Zeus was before her, a large metallic aqueduct like contraption she thought looked ugly in its attempt to mimic the spread wings of a bird. Still, its mere presence did resonate with her; as if she could sense it.

Always she had been taught by her father that as a member of the royal bloodline, she and she alone had the ability to ignite the sacred pyre.

It distressed quite a bit.

Still she did as she was asked and moved forward as her father and mother looked on proudly, an expectant kingdom around them watching to see how the next in line to the throne would fare.

"We give thanks to the blessed Zeus, the blessed fire." She said, stating the rehearsed speech.

At her father's instruction, she imagined a fire before her; burning like the blaze started by a new born sun.

"Sun of Soleanna, ward against Iblis, guide and watch over us and by your mercy may we continue to have peace." With that she expanded the thought outwards and the flames of her mind ignited the pyre, the flames shouting up the petal pipes to ignite the blazer above.

The crowds around them cheered in celebration and Elise let out a short sigh, feeling relieved at finally gotten this event out of the way.

Prompted by her father, she turned and waved to the crowd trying not to blush in embarrassment. She had never been comfortable in front of large amounts of people.

In retrospect she supposed she had little to no business being a princess.

Suddenly the entire city shook as bombardment commenced. Projectiles, fired from hostile forces not even within the city struck the buildings around them; dozens bursting open in horrific sprays of fire and brick dust.

Cheers turned to screams as entire walls and buildings began to crumble, fires blazing around them as the city was suddenly an inferno. Elise was thrown to the ground by a blast that erupted nearby, causing half the stadium wall to cave in.

Her father tried to shield her from the falling debris as the pyre collapsed, her mother right alongside him. Their royal guard formed a protective shield around the royal family but they were easily picked off as bullets began flying from snipers.

Spotlights from the sky shot down to target them and glancing up, Elise could see that flying overhead was a massive metallic red battleship.

"The Egg Carrier!" Her father declared, obviously recognising the massive battleship as dozens of cargo bay doors on its underside opened and dozens of giant machines began drooping down to crash into the city.

Automatons, mechanized destroyer mechs created for the Fesonian Confederation, started rampaging through the city; stamping upon the resistance anyone could offer on such short notice.

"Your majesty, we must flee!" One of the royal guards declared, attempting to guide the king, queen and princess away. Before he could, over twenty smaller robots flew down from the metallic ship to completely surround them.

These where strange shaped machines with reverse jointed legs and machine guns for arms. Elise couldn't have known but these were version 2.003 badniks, updated versions from the older designs used on Earth.

One by one they drooped and landed on the stone platform around them; raising their weapons to keep them in one place.

A hover platform began drooping down from the ship overhead, descending quickly until it was level with the platform; the projectile anti-projectile hood pulling back and revealed a man standing inside.

"City secured sir, awaiting orders." One of the badniks stated, saluting the man as the figure in the red coat and black pants the melded with the boots seamlessly.

"Oh my god! You!" King Solomon declared, clutching his wife and daughter.

The man was bald with a thick ginger moustache and eyes hidden behind a pair of thick black glasses.

"Doctor Eggman!" The queen cried; recognising the man from the galaxy news broadcasts. Even Elise knew who this man was. Doctor Eggman, the notorious scientist whose robotics technology has completely revolutionised warfare across the galaxy.

"I'm sorry, believe me but circumstances beyond my control have forced my hand." The Doctor stated, raising his left hand and clicking his fingers. The badniks around them all responded by weaponry.

"Badniks, on my command."

An instant later, a low howl began to rise in the air; accompanied by a fierce wind that seemed to blow out of nowhere. A wind streaking forward at unbelievable speeds, trailing a blue blur in its wake, snapped forth like a whip; slamming itself into a badnik and sending it flying up until the air until it dinged off the side of the Egg Carrier.

"My, that's a pretty snazzy performance there." A voice… that for some strange reason, sounded familiar to Elise.

Glancing up, he saw her saviour standing on top of the ruins of the pyre.

A blue hedgehog, with long fused quills and sharp defiant emerald green eyes stood there; his slim athletic body silhouetted by the fires around him.

"I'm sorry Sonic, but this is the one time I can not allow you to interfere!" Eggman declared and gesturing forward, he snapped his fingers once more.

The badniks around him raised the rifles on the right arms and opened fire, a barrage of bullets shooting into the air. Elise had to duck to avoid being hit.

The blue hedgehog simply leapt up into the air avoiding the lethal assault, somersaulting before flying forward with speed that defied logic; slamming a flying kick into the nearest badnik; sending the robotic soldier flying backwards until it smashed into a wall and vanished from sight.

"Excuse me your majesties, would you mind a lift?" He asked, racing forth and grabbing the wrists of both the king and the princess, the queen holding onto her husband.

"You?" Solomon started in alarm. "But… but how on…"

"Talk later buddy boy. Come on, we gotta go!" With a burst of speed, Elise was pulled along with the world blurring around her as she was whisked away.

"Damn it! Fire you idiots! FIRE! Kill them all!" The doctor shouted and instantly the large Automatons about faced, their sensors locking onto the fleeing target.

Sonic soured away, avoiding the long range laser blasts and missiles that followed his every movement; the projectiles exploding out behind him.

"Who… who are you?" Elise cried out, trying to hang on as she was pulled along at tremendously fast speeds.

"What?! I helped deliver you and you don't remember me. Oh I'm crushed!" Came the reply as the hedgehog expertly wove in and out of the streams of bullets and lasers before speeding up to avoid the blast zone of an exploding missile.

"The name's Sonic… Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Silver watched from a nearby rooftop, glancing up along the street as Sonic sped away with the princess and the royal family in his grasp. The white hedgehog from the future was having something of a crisis of conscience.

He didn't know what to do. So desperately he wanted to avoid the devastated future he had left behind. Blaze, his Blaze, had sacrificed everything to give him this chance.

But now he was here… he was full of doubts. The information they had gathered, the data that had told them of the ancient Titan time machine and the clues that had told them who the Iblis Trigger had been.

But now that he was here, everything he had learned was being challenged. Here, the Iblis Trigger meant more than simply 'he the patron of Iblis'.

The legends here said that the Iblis Trigger was a saviour… a legendary hero.

Hardly the devastator of all that is.

"Are you in there?" A voice asked and coming out of his thoughts, he glanced back to see Blaze standing beside him. "Come on, we have to get to the rendezvous point. We have to get Sonic and the royal family off Fenrir before Eggman's robots find them."

Silver just nodded. If this Black Doom wanted to release Iblis and he couldn't do it without the princess or her family then protecting them as of up most importance.

But… somewhere in the back of Silver's mind he wondered if Eggman might not be wrong in his thinking that the death of the royal family could be the answer.

* * *

-

The plan had been a quick drop, pick up the royal family and then get the hell out of here. That plan went to pieces when it became obvious that Eggman was going to get to Fenrir before them.

Using Chaos Control to teleport Blaze, Silver and himself across space; they arrived just in time to reach Soleanna just as Eggman began his attack. Blaze and Silver were to clear a space for the President's ship to land so that they could leave. Until then Sonic had to fly into a desert square far from the occupied city centre where he hoped the long range sensors of the Automatons wouldn't be able to detect them.

"Sonic, why are you doing this?" King Solomon asked. "Why did you come to our rescue?"

"Yeah I'm a hero, it's my job." The blue hedgehog replied. "Although there's little in the way of on the job health insurance… but hey someone's got to do it."

"Sonic… I sold you out."

"Don't sweat it."

"But I betrayed you… to save my own family... I…"

"I said don't sweat it." Sonic told him once more. "Look, I know now why you did what you did. Nobody got hurt."

Elise broke free of her mothers grasp and moved to look the blue hedgehog over. He was so familiar and now that she had the chance to observe him while not under fire there was no doubt in her mind that she had seen him before. The kind face and those bright green eyes were fixed in the deepest part of her memory.

"Dear on, I'd like you to meet the hedgehog who helped deliver you." Her mother told her. "This is Sonic."

Elise knew that she had been born on a ship of a contestant in the Ex Galactic Grand Prix, but never had she had any indication of being born on the ship of the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog.

The hedgehog winked as her with a smirk.

"Sonic listen... its Elise they need. Not me." Solomon started, tapping his chest. "That was why I helped the Order of Thunder capture you before. They told me they could prevent it. I was desperate."

"I've already said its cool man."

"You don't understand. Fate plays into this as much as heritage does. She is the one whose fate is tied to that of Iblis."

"Through the Solaris Project right?"

The king nodded limply.

"The Order of Thunder was mad. They wanted to attempt to destroy Iblis himself, not just the Black Doom. Their attempt obviously failed and retaliating, Iblis marked me. That mark carried on to my daughter.

She is the one who they require to unlock the power of the Angel Wing and the Miracle Planet.

You must protect her… you must…"

Sonic blinked as he watched the king's face contort.

"You must… you..."

Both the king and queen cried out in pain clutching at their throats. Elise jumped back in fright and then horror as the expressions on her parents faces turned to that of inhuman agony.

"Hey what's going…" Sonic started but the words died in his throat as the king and queen began to shrivel right before his eyes. At first they looked as if they were rapidly aging, wrinkles and grey appear flooding in by the second.

"Sonic… please…" Solomon started, his voice growing weaker and weaker. "Look after… my… daughter…."

Then they grew thinner and thinner before finally they collapsed. They hair simply fell from their heads and skin cracked and flaked.

When they hit the ground the burst open, becoming piles of grey dust amongst stained royal garments.

"Momma, Pappa! NO!" Elise dried out in despair, clutching at her parents remains.

Sonic just stared in utter horror, unable to grasp how they had simply degenerated in front of him. They were friends, two people who despite a few differences, he had liked; had died and he had been powerless to stop it.

"Now now, dear Princess Elise. Those tears of yours are somewhat precious Don't cry." A voice started and Sonic glanced up, seeing the figure that had been standing there unnoticed behind the kind and queen. "At least not yet."

The creature was shrouded in darkness and encrusted with glowing crystals. The eyes were green and feral, bloodshot and glazed like a ruby. There was no visible nose and a mouth that was completely hidden until it opened revealing jagged shark like teeth.

"Now that was an exquisite meal. A pair of the royal blood of Soleanna is quite a change from the filthy commerce I've had to feed upon thus far."

"You…you did this?" Sonic demanded. "You monster!"

"Every organism has to take sustenance from somewhere in order to survive." The crystalline hedgehog stated, striding forward and Sonic watched as the path he walked warped and bent around him; parts of its bursting open with blue fire and others sprouting with jagged grey crystal.

"I need to feed upon the life force of other living beings. It makes me stronger. Each victim, each death, their strength is added to my own. I feed, not only to live, but to evolve."

"Just who are you?"

"Who am I you ask?" The crystalline hedgehog chuckled, an amused hint coming into his blood shot eyes. "Well that's certainly an interesting question. I could answer it but the response might be beyond your present understanding.

So for the meantime might I suggest we keep it simple?"

He moved forward, his jagged crystal like feet scaring the ground as he moved, the sidewalk bending and warping, jagged spikes of glowing crystal shooting up to follow him. The young Elise simply knelt there, crying as she pounded her fists into the remains of her parents.

"My name is Mephiles." The muzzle of his new arrival pulled itself apart, revealing the hidden mouth full of jagged teeth. "I am the darkness behind the light, the darkness behind your light Sonic the Hedgehog."

Sonic grimaced. So this guy knew his name huh?

"Just what is that suppose to mean?" Sonic asked; taking a step back as Mephiles drew near. "Hey…stay back!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that." The crystal hedgehog told him, his feral green eyes darting to glance at the girl. "You see I've come a long way to get here and there's something a friend of mine needs. He's not the sort I really want to disappoint, at least not yet."

"Black Doom!" Sonic hissed, about faced and grabbed Elise. Darting back he shot past Mephiles as fast as he could so; a bellowing wind in his wake that blew newspapers and trash up into the air.

Mephiles simply stood there silently. After a moment he tilted his head back and laughed, eyes alight with sadistic humour.

Sonic kept on running. If the Black Doom was sending agents here then he had learned of Elise's significance. He couldn't allow her to fall into his hands. Not just for the sake of the universe. The child in his arms was scared… terrified. He had to protect her.

Darting around a corner, the blue hedgehog almost ran into some Badniks that were trying to cut him off.

"I don't have time for this!" He declared, holding Elise tightly to his chest. "Get out of my way!" Spinning around, he became a spiralling bullet that crashed through the roadblock sending androids flying into walls and high into the air. The blue hedgehog was flying off into the night even before most of them hit the ground.

Several of the Doctor's robots managed to remain in operational status and tried to get back up, reaching for their rifles. Before they could reach their weaponry, their metallic armour started peeling off; bolts of white lightning leaping from robot to robot. They came apart within seconds, flying apart from small explosions within their bodies until they crumbled into ashy piles.

As they crashed down, Mephiles walked past them, his mere presence and whim tearing them apart.

"So Sonic, you want to challenge me to a contest of speed?" He chuckled. "Always the coward, preferring to run rather than fight, not that I blame you… after all facing me head on is suicide."

He clasped both hands together and bolts of lightning travelled between his fingers.

"Very well… I'll indulge you."


	62. Episode 31, part 2

Sonic kept running, flying through the narrow streets of the city. He had to get off this planet with Elise. With Doctor Eggman and this new, Mephiles, coming at him from all directions there was nowhere safe on Fenris. Solomon and the queen had already been airlifted to safety by Jet but now he was stranded, Sonic had to find someway of contacting the others without Eggman finding out.

"If you are attempting to run, you're not doing a very good job of it." A voice told him. Glancing to the side in alarm, Sonic saw that running alongside him and keeping up with him was Mephiles.

"Surely you can go faster than this?"

Sonic glanced down at Mephiles' legs and saw that, somehow, the crystalline hedgehog wasn't even moving them that much. He was taking long strides, ignoring wind resistance and moving as if he was exempt to the laws of physics.

"If you're not going to hand the girl over then at the very least make taking her from you a challenge. I do have other places to be." Mephiles made a lunge, attempting to snatch Elise out of his arms but doing an acrobatic flip Sonic avoided it, coming alongside a wall and using his momentum to run along it.

"You want fast, I'll give you fast!" His legs becoming a blur of blue, Sonic rocketed forward with a sonic boom in his wake. Mephiles was hit by the shockwave and thrown backwards until his own speed managed to compensate.

"Ah now that's a bit more like it."

Sonic risked a glance back and as expected Mephiles was right behind him, his movements similar to Shadow's in the way he moved; swaying back and forth as his long strides carried him faster than should have been possible.

Clenching a fist, Mephiles invoked a small portion of his will and directly in Sonic's path a crystal sprang out of the ground, lancing high into the air.

Holding Elise tight in both arms, Sonic did an acrobatic flip over it before landing back on the ground and racing on.

Mephiles tried again and again to place obstacles in Sonic's path to slow him down, crystalline lancing out of the ground where he went but always Sonic was fast and agile enough to leap directly over or dodge around them.

Loosing patience, Mephiles called forth a solid wall of crystal that shot high into the air blocking an entire street so fast Sonic hadn't time to get around it. Forced to come to a stop, Sonic growled in frustration before about facing.

"Sonic, please…I…I'm scared." The princess stuttered, clinging to him with unrelenting force as a dark jagged shape emerged out of the smoke now enveloping the city.

"Its ok kiddo, I've got you." He told her reassuringly.

Mephiles' eyes were visible first, followed by his crystalline outline and then the sparks of lightning that sparked around his body; scaring the ground as he moved.

"What the hell is this guy?" Sonic muttered in annoyance.

"I've already told you, the concept of what I am is beyond your comprehension." Mephiles stated.

Suddenly, a looming mechanical giant eclipsed them both in its shadow and both hedgehogs glanced up. Towering above them as the massive form of one of Eggman's Automaton Marionettes, its optics rotating around until it fixed on them.

"Target located. Eliminate." It stated and the massive laser cannon it was holding moved to target the Princess.

"Hold on tight." Sonic whispered to the girl and she did so. Focusing inwardly, Sonic called upon the technique Shadow had taught him. "CHAOS CONTROL!!"

There was suction as he vanished from his place in reality, taking the princess with him as he slipped underneath normal space through the warp.

Mephiles growled in mute frustration, before clicking his fingers, calling up more crystal as it lanced out of the ground impaling the metal giant before it could fire; the energy backfiring causing it to explode.

-

* * *

Silver opened his eyes, sensing through his enhanced telepathic and telekinetic abilities that Sonic had just entered his mental range. He had a very scared young mind along with him.

"They're that way." He stated, pointing off to the south. Blaze nodded and leap from the rooftop with acrobatic grace, leaving a scent of perfume behind her that left Silver stunned for a moment before he followed, flying through the air using his telekinesis to keep himself up.

Sonic came racing out of a warp with Elise clutching to his chest, refusing to budge; the small child trembling in utter terror.

Flying overhead, Silver could see just how frightened she was and in that moment any nagging doubt he had that Eggman might be right faded away. This was a small, frightened child with just as much right to live as anything else.

"Sonic, over here!" Blaze called out and Sonic shot for the relative safety of an alleyway.

"We gotta move." The blue hedgehog told them both. "We gotta move now!"

"Eggman's robots are moving in the opposite direction, we should be able to sneak out." Blaze replied. "We don't have to attract attention by running."

Sonic shook his head vigorously.

"No… there… there's some…something following us. It's after the Princess."

Elise clung closer to the blue hedgehog in response.

"I think it's an agent of the Black Doom."

Blaze glanced down the flame lit street, her eyes suddenly sharp. Angrily she drew the hammer across her back and held it at the ready.

"No agent of Loki will pass me this day." She remarked.

"I don't recommend going one on one with it." Sonic told her. "Not until we get the princess out of here."

"Please…please help me." The princess implored the pair of them. "Mephiles, he killed my parents. Both of them!"

Silver suddenly visibly paled.

"What… what did you say?" He asked, his pupils dilating. He was starting to shake and his clover like quills on the forehead drooped.

"Silver what's the matter?" Blaze asked, trying to shake him out of it. The white hedgehog's expression twisted, contorting in utter terror.

"No… its not possible… its not…"

A hideous laugh split the air.

"Oh, but I'm afraid it is, young warrior."

As one they all glanced up to the charred remains of a building just across the street. Standing on the ash strewn top was Mephiles, his arms folded in front of him and a hide grin on his face revealing his teeth.

Silver gave out a sharp cry of terror and scattered back.

Mephiles leapt from the building and as he did, it exploded as a massive shaft of crystal shot out of the ground underneath it.

"Ah Silver, how nice to see you again." Mephiles stated, lancing back on the ground with pieces of brick and mortar falling around him. "I imagine it felt rather good, imagining that you'd be rid of me by simply travelling into the past."

Silver took another involuntary step backwards. "Foolish boy! Iblis and I are one! I convinced the devourer to hold off on eating Roc until I had followed you back. You didn't honestly believe that you could alter history did you? Its course is immutable, fixed on a set path.

No amount of interference from either of us is going to change it. That is the mistake you made but not me. I intend to ride the course of events to their ultimate conclusion. Soon all shall be returned to the empty void from which all existence sprang. Even time itself shall bend until it snaps!"

Suddenly Mephiles caught sight of the violet cat at Silver side.

"What is this?" He looked at her directly. "Ah how interesting. You encountered the past self of your mentor. She's almost about your age in this timeline correct?" He studied Blaze with an attention that made her shudder. "I knew you loved her Silver, even her old form. Rather more than a student-teacher relationship I'd say. Will you attempt to make your intentions known now? You might as well; time for you and everyone else is running out."

Mephiles' eyes darted back to Elise.

"But enough of this real life soap opera. I have business to attend to. Iblis must be released and the Black Doom needs the girl in order to do it. Move aside or you die where you stand."

Silver took another step backwards and now even Sonic was unnerved.

"Blaze, take care of Elise for me." He said slowly, passing the girl to the surprised cat. "Get her off this planet; get her far away from here. Keep her safe until Silver and I catch up with you."

Silver shot him a scared glance and Sonic smiled.

"If this guy's so bad, then let's put him down right here and now."

"Sonic, you don't know who you're up against." Silver warned him. "Mephiles is Iblis' agent, not the Black Doom's.

He's the one who killed the future Blaze; he has the power of chaos itself at his command. I was no match for him when we fought before."

Sonic only widened his smile.

"Well before, you didn't have me." There was such confidence in his voice that Silver just stood there staring at him in awe.

"Interesting. You're actually going to try and fight." Mephiles sounded intrigued. "Whenever anyone tried to do that they die within seconds. I can drain the life force out of any organism I please, observe."

The crystalline hedgehog held on hand aloft and clicked his stone like fingers. In that instant Sonic clutched at his throat, gagging and falling to one knee.

"Sonic!" Elise carried on struggling in Blaze's grasp, watching in horror as Sonic started aging, his skin becoming wrinkled and grey as the colour was slowly bled out of his fur.

"Every form of life has energy that maintains them. I can feed off of it. I can feel you even now growing weaker and weaker, your energy making me stronger. I could kill you all with the merest…" He paused. "What is this?"

Sonic gritted his teeth and tried to stand back up, his quills regaining colour and the wrinkles were beginning to disappear one by one.

"You're taking your energy back? How?" Mephiles actually sounded stunned. "It was mine! How can you be…" Before he could react, Silver picked up a piece of debris using his telekinesis and threw it directly at him. Hit head on, Mephiles was thrown backwards in a cloud of dust until he slammed against a wall.

"Get of here! Run!" He shouted back towards Blaze. The cat nodded and darted off, keeping a hold of Elise.

Mephiles pushed himself up, shaking the brick dust out of his crystalline quills. Sonic staggered back to his quills, reverting back to his normal self and breathing hard.

"That can't be! There is no way that should have happened." Mephiles hissed, his red eyes almost glowing with fury.

Then he saw that Blaze and Elise were running away.

"No! You will escape me!" He snapped, staggering back to his feet.

"You… you want the princess, then your going to gave to go through us." Sonic stuttered, regaining some composure.

Silver however did not look as confident.

"Come on Silver, you want to change the future?" Sonic asked and the white hedgehog glanced over at him sharply. "Then let's start right here and now and let's take this murderer down!"

Silver pressed his lips together tightly and after a short moment of silence, he nodded once.

Mephiles cocked his head to the side and his mouth revealed itself in a thick sadistic sneer.

Sonic rushed forward first, throwing a fist forward in an attempt to hit Mephiles directly in the face. Mephiles grabbed his arm and using the blue hedgehog's own momentum, tossed him across the square until he crashed until the side of a building with a cloud of brick dust bellowing up.

Retaliating the crystalline hedgehog threw a open palm forward and sent a bolt off sparking dark energy to blast Sonic while he was still down; causing the entire building to explode around him.

Catching all the debris out of the air using his psychokinetic powers, Silver held it high before dropping it down on top of Mephiles. Instead of crushing him, the stone and metal simply folded around a sphere of dark energy that came into being around the crystalline hedgehog.

Mephiles raised his left hand and clicked his stone like fingers. Out of the ground underneath Silver came a shard of crystal, smacking the white hedgehog directly in the face.

Glancing to the left, Mephiles swung his fist back just in time as Sonic emerged out of a Chaos Control warp in an attempt to perform a sneak attack.

"How the…" Sonic managed to get out before Mephiles grabbed him by the throat and tossed him directly into Silver.

"Even Krish the Destroyer pales in comparison to me." He declared, holding both hands and cupping them together, calling forth an orb of dark power that increased in size with each passing second until it was twice the size of Mephiles himself. Holding it both his head, he condensed it until it crackled with lightning before tossing it like a beach ball towards them.

"Move!" Silver declared, hurling the two of them telekinetically out of the way as the orb smacked into the ground where they had just been; exploding with such force that it carved a deep crater out of the ground.

"Holy cow!" Sonic remarked, catching as the dust settled. The crater had engulfed an entire city block and water was pouring in to fill it from the broken sewer pipes.

"Come now. Oblivion is lovely this time of year." Mephiles remarked; holding up one hand as another energy orb appeared between his fingers.

"Sonic, I've tried this before. Mephiles can't be beaten like this. We have to run!" Silver told him with fear in his eyes.

"No." Sonic replied with a steadfast voice. "I can't explain why but every part of me is crying out for me to face him! To stop him. It's as if this is my only purpose."

Without a moments hesitation he charged, throwing a punch forward so amazing speed. But Mephiles dimply dodged around it as if Sonic was moving in slow motion, retaliating but swinging his leg around so fast he was a blur; knocking the wind out of the blue hedgehog before slapping him away.

Following up, Silver wrenched two pieces of debris from the ground using his mind and tossed them directly at the crystalline hedgehog. A mere glance from Mephiles sent them flying backwards, nearly crushing the Silver Hedgehog under their immense weight. Silver had to dive out of the way.

Mephiles held up a hand, blocking Sonic's kick, before lashing out grabbing the blue hedgehog by the foot and holding him upside down.

"Hmm…" Mephiles paused, his eyes glowing a bright green, that unearthly glow passing over Sonic like a scan. "Ah now that's convenient." He tossed Sonic to the ground, almost dropping him on top of Silver.

Then he snapped his fingers again and a fence of crystal spikes shot out of the ground, trapping Sonic and Silver inside a circle. Before they could escape out the top, more seemed to grow out the top of the first to form a ceiling.

"Too late to run now." Sonic remarked as Silver tried to move the crystals with his mind but they refused to budge.

"I…I can't move them. They're too dense a mass for telekinesis to work!"

"Sonic, you're lucky I need you alive at some future point." Mephiles remarked, coming closer. "But you have something that I require. Tucked into your quills, all safe and sound." He gestured forth. "Hand it over… the last jewel."

Sonic grit his teeth.

"Not a chance."

"I'm not asking." Mephiles clicked his fingers again and several more crystals lanced out at different angles, several of them pressing against Silver's head; threatening to impale him in several directions.

"Hand over that Chaos Emerald, or he dies."

"You're bluffing."

Mephiles just stared at him with a flat expression. Silver cried out as the tip of one very sharp spike pressed against the side of his head.

"I never bluff." The crystal pressed in a little harder into Silver's skull and drew blood. "The next time I pierce his brain."

Sonic cursed loudly and reached into his quills and withdrew the Chaos Emerald. With no other choice he handed it through the gaps between the crystalline and deposited it into Mephiles' outstretched hand.

"Alright you win you, asshole."

The crystalline hedgehog's eyes sparkled with evil glee and laughing, he grasped the jewel tight in both hands before throwing his other hand forward and letting a gathered orb of dark energy erupt directly in their faces. The crystals around them shattered in the explosion, the shards lancing painfully into their skin as they flew backwards disappearing into the dust.

"Foolish hedgehog." Mephiles muttered. "I wouldn't have killed either of you. I still need you both and you've been so helpful. I would have hated having to search the galaxy for the last emerald and the scion of Zeus, but you've saved me a great deal of time by bringing both to the same location. The gate can be opened, right now!"

The crystalline hedgehog blinked once and glanced away.

"Ah… and on that note."

-

* * *

The plan was to bring Elise to the waiting ship, where they could lift off and escape into space; find some safe or uninhabited planet on which to hide. That plan now being in tatters, Blaze was having to revise the plan was she went.

For a moment, while clutching a frightened child in amidst a city ablaze she wished she could role back time to the safety she had once known in her home world, in the floating city in amongst the Dragon Blood. While that safety had been merely an illusion it had been the only comfort she had known as her world had deteriorated.

The moment past however and her pride reasserted itself, determined to never again live in such foolish delusional states.

"Sonic… we have to go back for him!" The girl pleaded with her.

"He can take care of him. We've got to get you…"

The blow hit Blaze directly in the face, throwing it back until she tumbled along the ground and crashed into a vehicle denting it.

Elise tried to rush over to help her but before she could she was snatched up, held by a single air in mid air.

"Honestly, I try to be nice and what do I get in return?" Mephiles asked, holding the struggling girl up. "Ah well, at least now I have this little going away present to make up for it."

"Let me… let me go!" Elise cried out, desperately trying to free herself from the jagged grip on her arm.

"Keep silent child and I might just spare your life after your purpose is fulfilled." He stared her directly in the face.

"Please… let me go. Leave me with Sonic please!" The princess kicked and screamed.

"I wonder what it must be like to live in such sweet ignorance." Mephiles commented, one of his green feral eyes glancing her over. "You don't have the slightest clue as to your true significance do you? You haven't any idea about you heritage nor why all this is happening."

The crystalline hedgehog chucked, revealing all of his jagged shark like teeth.

"Look out upon this burning city princess and feel despair." He thrust her forward, pointing her face towards the city of Soleanna as Eggman's robots continued to take it apart searching for the princess.

"All of this, the death of your mother and father and the destruction of your city… its all because of you."

"Wha…What do you mean?"

"You're the key my dear. The second Scion. Your mere existence will bring destruction the likes of which you won't be able to comprehend to existence." He forced her to watch as her city burned.

"Watch, dear princess, and known despair."

* * *

In Chris' voice:

The agents of the Black Doom have brought the elements together. All Seven Chaos Emeralds and the scions of Prometheus and Zeus. Now beings endgame.

All will come to battle and as Maginaryworld crumbles, an evil Sonic and Shadow long thought crushed rises again but even with this, a greater threat lurks on the horizon.

If the Black Doom the ultimate danger? Or is it Mephiles? Or Iblis…. Or could it possibly by the resurrection of Solaris itself?

Find out as Combine wars draws to a close with the final saga, the Ragnarok Saga, next time on Sonic X. Don't miss it!"


	63. Episode 32, part 1

(sorry that this took so long, others things to do any all that.)

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Ragnarok Saga

Doom Chapter

* * *

The fate of the Gods…

* * *

Episode 32: Fall of Maginaryworld 

-

"Solaris?" Okida repeated with a half glance back over his shoulder.

"It's an old legend." Void stated. "And when I say old, I mean _**really**_ old. There is no older a tale. This is THE FIRST legend."

As promised, the army of Maginaryworld was starting to move forth to bluster the Earth;s defences and their forces were currently residing in Central City awaiting for more reinforcements to come through the porthole.

Right now their primary concern was the destruction of the Angel Wing now in Orbit, the ancient ship that was pivotal to the Black Doom's plans. After retaking their missile defences, G.U.N had bombarded the ship with weapons fire but the Angel Wing had remained undamaged.

"I haven't heard of it before." Okida replied, turning back to work on the Diablon. The red biological machine prototype that had been recovered from the wreckage of Giant Wing had undergone quite a lot of improvements, adapting Combine Federation technology into its being. It was now faster, stronger and armed with projectiles although Okida had made sure these were not automatic; he wanted to harness his skills in this mech.

"You're unlikely to." Void told him. "The legend of Solaris is told only amongst my people, who are the oldest race.

It is said that when all universes were born, there was only one form of life present to watch. This was Solaris, the god of time."

"God of time?" Topaz asked, poking her head out of the open cockpit. The unique piloting system of the Diablon was like nothing before conceived, a direct neurological link between the pilot and the mech. Maintenance on such a system was delicate work.

"Well it's a bit more complex than that." Void admitted. "God of causality might be a better term but that's not important.

Solaris was present at the very beginning and as such, his powers over the flow of time and the material of space are unmatched. He could create an entire timeline of events with only a thought and unravel one just as easily.

It is said that in order to allow for other life forms to exist as time progressed; he separated into two aspects of himself; Destruction and Creation.

The Destruction became the devourer known as Iblis."

"And what happened to the Creation half?" Topaz asked.

"No one knows. That part of the legend has faded from memory millions of years ago.

"It's only a legend Void." Lumina reminded him. Void's second in command and lover stood nearby, looking out over the city of Central City. The humans here couldn't wait to start rebuilding their world after such a devastating war and abuse by the Confederation.

While humans were not exactly renowned for their acceptance of anything different from themselves, they were simply far too busy rebuilding to be racist about the reptilians that had come here as refuges after their planet had been destroyed.

It was hard for anyone to stick to the notion of human, primarily white, supremacy with the Federation ships in orbit around the planet and with the aid coming in from the same extraterrestrial organisation.

"But if Rhea herself is worried about, then it must have some meaning beyond the Folklore." Void muttered.

"I thought you didn't trust her word." Lumina asked, looking back over her shoulder at him.

"I don't and I can tell when she's lying… but not this time." Void's face went stern. "She's terrified and I've never seen her so scared before. Not even the Black Doom inspires the terror I see in her eyes than Solaris does."

"A creature that can control the flow of time itself…" Topaz sighed looking thoughtful. "Sounds like good material for a science fiction book."

"I wouldn't make light of something terrifying enough to scare a goddess." Void stated. "And before I forget, Okida, just where is Sonic? I expected to find him here on Earth since the Blue Typhoon is here as well."

Okida shook his head.

"He left us before we got here." He told him, placing the wrench back in the tool box and turning around. "He and a few others, they went off to learn more about the project with the same name as that time god?"

Void blinked.

"A…Solaris project?" He asked in surprise. "I haven't heard of this."

"According to Sonic it was someone's attempt to use Ancient Titan Technology for something, possibly to do with the Black Doom." Okida explained. "We didn't manage to get all the details."

Void paused, placing his hand on his chin and half closing his eyes in thought.

"So where is Sonic now?" Lumina asked.

"Last we heard he was heading for planet Kraken." Topaz replied. "But that was weeks ago now."

"I don't like it." Void muttered. "I don't like this situation one bit."

"What's not to like?" Okida asked. "We managed to force the Confederation off Earth, they're in retreat and to what we can tell all the Black Doom's plans are failing."

"All too easily." Void added. "The Black Doom has legions of Metarex in Nexus and an entire empire of fanatical imperialists in this dimension. If he really wanted to win the war we're fighting then he would have come at us with everything he had."

He shook his head wearily.

"No… no this isn't over, not by a long shot. Not as long as that…" He pointed up to the sight of the Angel Wing. The colossal spaceship was visible from orbit and had become as visible as a second moon. "…remains there."

"Why here Void?" Lumina asked. "Why would the Black Doom send the Angel Wing to Earth of all places? What's so special about this planet?"

"I don't know and that's what's so maddening." Void confessed, stomping his feet irritably. "If only I could…" He stopped and then slapped his forehead.

"Oh I've been an idiot! It's so obvious!!!"

"Void?" Okida asked raising an eyebrow. "What's obvious?"

"You remember when Krish resurrected himself?" Void asked whirling around to face them.

"We're hardly likely to forget that." Topaz replied with a shudder.

"Well, when he did, he had to open a gate to allow his spirit to leave the dimension of Nexus. That gate was only possible here, since Earth is a fused world!

It's dimensional unstable, a result of the fusion of the original Earth and Mobius. There's a tear in the dimension fabric here…"

"Which was made worse by the opening of Prometheus' realm!" Lumina explained, finally catching on. "Those shockwaves that happened when the Angel Wing was freed, they weakened the barrier so that the gate the Black Doom has can open for longer than the one Krish opened!"

"So… where is this gate?" Okida asked. "It's not up on that Angel Wing is it?"

Void shook his head.

"No, the Angel Wing is merely the key here. According to Iapetus, it's a vessel created by Uranos; the first of the Titan's and Cronos's father. It was the first ship capable of inter-dimensional travel. It can only by operated by one of Uranos' bloodline, such as Cronos or Zeus… or any descendant."

"Ohhhhh…..dear." Topaz suddenly went, her eyes widening. "So that's what they meant by the 'Scion of Zeus'."

"Scion of what?" Void asked.

"Sonic, before he left, he said he was searching for someone tilted; the Scion of Zeus." Okida explained. "If I understand this correctly, then they must be part of Uranos' bloodline as well and as such can operate the Angel Wing."

"And the Black Doom already has Cosmo, the Scion of Prometheus." Void hissed narrowing his eyes. "Now I get it. Now I understand everything! It's been right in front of me this whole time. The Chaos Emeralds… the Scions… the Angel Wing… its all connected."

He shot another glance up at the Angel Wing.

"That ship has to be destroyed. We have to throw everything we've got at it before…

"Commander Void! Sir, come in…do you...bzzz… read me… come in." The crystal bracelet on Void's wrist interrupted him.

The voice was scrambled and there was a lot of, for lack of a better term, dimensional interference.

"This is Commander Void, I'm not reading you very clearly… repeat." Void stated, raising it to talking level.

"Sir, we've taken heavy causalities. We've fallen back to the palace defences but this enemy is overwhelming us."

"Say wha?" Okida asked, glancing back so sharply he almost fell off the Diablon's shoulder.

Lumina whirled around in alarm.

"What are you going on about?" Void demanded.

"Its Maginaryworld sir, it's under attack!"

* * *

---- 

Being at the nexus point for creation, the Seedrians of Maginaryworld had seen many different creatures and phenomenon's but what arrived at their own door without any warning at all was like nothing they had ever encountered.

Their crystal their city and homes were made of suddenly turned against them, some collapsing on their occupants and others trying to obelisks of death that shot deadly spikes out impaling anyone who was unfortunate enough to be standing nearby.

"Rhea, the city is in chaos, can't you regain control?" Iapetus asked, watching from the balcony of the palace.

The city before him was in turmoil the likes of which was unimaginable. Entire districts were collapsing, homes turning upon their owners; even the ground beneath their feet wasn't safe.

Behind him through the archway was the royal chamber where the senate met and the dais where the Precious Stone was housed.

Queen Illumina, how revealed in his true form was the Titaness Rhea, sat in meditation upon her throne; desperately trying to reassert control of the city.

Her face was strained with the effort.

"I'm trying Iapetus." Rhea snapped, sounding irritated. "But I can't… I can't extend my influence outside the palace. Some dark force is preventing me." She angrily cursed before turning to face the centre of the chamber. "I'm going to have to absorb power from the Precious Stone."

"Rhea, NO!" Iapetus told her sharply, about facing in an instant. "There's more power inside that stone than you comprehend, what happened to your brother should have taught you that."

At this, Rhea flinched.

"It's far too powerful for you to control! And you're forgetting that half of Krish's mind is trapped inside it.

Krish may not be a Titan but we can not risk him taking over your mind! His will is dominating… believe me I know."

"What choice do we have left?" Rhea asked.

She reached for the stone.

"Isn't that what Cronos asked when he sought to use the Stone's power? What choice, he asked, did we have when faced with such danger.

He was wrong then and he is still wrong now. We can not use this power. It's not meant for our connivance.

We are guardians… not users. This is what Gaia told us."

After a moment of silence, Rhea drew in her breath and held it. Then she let it go.

"Yes…" She eventually muttered. "Yes you are right."

"My lord!" One of their soldiers proclaimed, running into the chamber. His right arm and wing had been badly injured, blood dripping from his feathers and fingers to leave a trick trail across the floor.

"Our left flank's been completely wiped out!"

"What?" Iapetus asked in stunned alarm. "That company was over a thousand strong!"

"I know sire, but… but they were torn to pieces." The soldier replied. "I was all that was left."

"How many enemies?" The Ancient asked, glancing up sharply.

"Only the one sire."

Suddenly everything went quiet.

"One?" Iapetus repeated. "You're telling me we're under attack,_** here**_, by a single enemy?"

The scout nodded.

"Yes, but sir… it… it tore apart the entire flank as if they were nothing!" There was clear fear in the soldier's eyes. "I saw it rip twenty civilians apart… there was…blood everywhere."

"Not even a Titan, not even Black Doom can do that!" Iapetus muttered with wide eyes. "Just what are we besieged by?"

* * *

-- 

"Open fire!"

A barrage of fire shot forth and the loud succession of strikes echoed off in the distance as they made contact. The Seedrian soldiers kept up the assault, refusing to let. The bodies of their fallen comrades were strewn before them, a testament to the intruder's demented nature and evil.

Their shots weren't affecting the intruder at all. The projectiles were either missing him completely or simply bouncing off his body, ricocheting away from him.

"We can't stop it!" One of the soldiers cried out.

"Hold your position!" This was the uncomforting reply that came back.

The barrage of shots cracked the crystalline ground and a cloud of sparkling dust bellowed up into the air, the dark strode settling over the main street before the Imperial Palace.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!"

The soldiers kept on firing even after the order was given, too scared and to high on adrenaline to comply. It took a few more moments of shouting orders for them to stop.

When the firing of mystic bolts ceased and the dust began to settle.

"Did…did we get it?" Someone asked when there was no sight of their enemy.

"After what this think did to the left flank?" Another asked in reply. "No way…"

The first to scream was the soldier at the front as his feet were grabbed from underneath and he was violently pulled down into the crystal beneath as if it was water. A moment later, a torrent of blood shot upwards like a fountain and the remaining troops backed off in utter horror; several of them screaming.

The flow of blood pulsating around them, they watched in terror as a creature rose out of the crystal. It was caked in blood and as its feral eyes moved to glare at them, it held its claws aloft and let the guts it had torn from the soldier fall to the ground.

"By holy Illumina!"

This creature was a sadistic piece of work, filled with an intense bloodlust.

"Hello boys!"

As the slaughter began again, all of Maginaryworld would know now who was at their gates.

"When you reach Oblivion, tell them Mephiles sent you!"


	64. Episode 32, part 2

The massive doors to the palace which had held during Void's civil war were torn off their hinges and tossed inward with minimal effort. As they crashed forward, Mephiles strode almost nonchalantly into the massive great all; leaving a trail of blood and guts behind him.

"Please, don't get up." He told the dead guards who had been crushed underneath the door, walking over them as if they weren't there. "I'll let myself in."

The Imperial palace was as large and overly grand as he'd expected it to be. A far smaller building with a more humble design would have done a far better job of defending the Precious Stone.

It was almost a shame really…. These fools and idiots had no idea just what was about to befall them all. They were totally ignorant and such ignorance could not inspire the fear and horror true illumination could.

Still this brief moment of blissful ignorance would soon pass…

And the utter terror would be all the sweeter.

* * *

--

"Your majesty!" Lumina cried out as they emerged through the porthole that emerged directly into the throne room.

"We've come with that forces we could." Void announced as Okida and several G.U.N soldiers followed them through. The soldiers gaped at the sight of the crystalline building around them.

"It won't be enough." Rhea told them without looking back, keeping her attention fixed on the Precious Stone before her. "This enemy is like nothing we've ever encountered! Iapetus will try to hold it off for as long as he can…. But I fear he will not succeed."

* * *

--

Door after door fell in as Mephiles continued his progress through the Imperial Palace. The stone was calling to him, like a sirens lure. It was almost like a soft, irresistible music that had to get closer to.

It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard, but given the true nature of the stone he suspected little else.

"That's far enough." A voice stated. Mephiles glanced up as the door ahead opened and a seedrian moved forward, spreading his large golden wings out either side. He cast his robes aside, letting the cumbersome trappings fall to the ground exposing his muscles and his large two handed claymore.

"You're all going to die, that's true." The crystalline hedgehog commented. "But why be in such a rush to the grave? Conserve what little time remains you and walk away."

The Seedrian studied Mephiles for a brief moment before he stood up straight, testing both hands on the pummel of his blade.

"So…you are Mephiles." He began with a thick layer of contempt in his voice. "The Dark Stain."

"You know me?" Mephiles asked, raising a jagged eyebrow.

"All too well." The winged being looked Mephiles directly in the eye without fear, something that was a rare oddity. "You will not know it but my name is Iapetus."

"You're right. I don't know you."

"But you know me by another name…a name I carried for centuries until recently. I was Dark Oak."

Mephiles paused. Then he threw back his head and laughed.

"A Metarex? Standing in my way? Move aside and let me pass for I also serve your master."

Iapetus frowned.

"I serve Black Doom no more. And don't give me those lies… you serve no one but yourself. You have no intention of helping the Black Doom." He lifted his sword before smacking it down again, the resonating sound like a chime. "We know now where the true threat lies.

Solaris will not live again."

Mephiles narrows both feral green eyes.

"Forgive me if I beg to differ."

Silence endured for a handful of tense moments that seemed to stretch on as far as they could.

Mephiles' left hand suddenly twitched.

Iapetus charged, beating his large wings to propel himself through the air. The crystalline hedgehog simply grinned and let him attack

Tensing the muscles in his arm, the titan swung his sword down in an attempt to slice the crystalline hedgehog in half down the middle.

The moment his blade made contact it shattered in pieces. One of the finest swords in existence, forged using the flares of a sun and had could cut through entire mountainsides simply shattered as if it was as fragile as ice.

Mephiles' grin widened.

"My turn."

Left stunned by the shattering of his sword, Iapetus left himself open to a kick that smashed itself so hard and so fast into his stomach that it sent him flying backwards until he crashed through a wall. He kept on going, smashing through wall after wall until finally his momentum had been slowed down enough so instead of punching a hole he simply made a seedrian shaped imprint on the surface.

Victory attained, Mephiles didn't bother wasting the precious seconds finishing him off. He would suffer no more delays.

This was why when opposition came from an ambush of human and seedrian soldiers, Mephiles destroyed them without a flicker of remorse. The humans he drained of energy in an instant and the seedrians, somehow immune to this process, he tore limb from limb.

Before long he was standing before the doors to the inner chamber itself. Within lay his prize, or at least one half of it.

But as predictable as ever there was resistance.

Here now, was the obstacle Mephiles knew to be the last.

Queen Illumina, as she was known to her people… although now she had retaken her original form; that of the Titaness Rhea. She stood before him with the doors to the central chamber behind her.

At either side were her loyal retainers, Void and Lumina.

"Ah so the last esoteric few have come to defend their stone?" He asked, approaching the door.

Void leapt forward, brandishing his sabre. With something of a furrowed brow, Mephiles called forth a shaft of crystal from the wall that smacked the Seedrian through the air until he cracked the back of his head on the floor.

"Void!" Lumina cried out, trying to go to his aid. Mephiles disposed of her with ease, grasping her by the throat and tossing her back over his shoulder until she crashed down on the floor. The sound of her body striking a solid surface sounded like a crack of thunder.

"I see you've rethought the importance of your heritage." He commented dryly. "Cronos sends his regards."

To his satisfaction there was a momentary twitch in his face.

"The Black Doom is not my brother." She eventually managed to say. "He forfeited the right to call me his Sister long ago."

"That's not the way he sees it."

"I care little for the way he see's things."

"Oh now I find broken families distressing."

Without a word of warning, he raised his hand and fired forth a bolt of dark energy at her. She batted the energy projectile aside and flew in close, throwing a super fast punch directly in his face.

Mephiles dodged the swing and grabbed her arm. Using her own momentum against her he tossed her through the air until she slammed into a wall. Rebounding her off this hard surface, he threw her back over his shoulder until she hit the other wall.

She recovered from this and came back at him unexpectedly, hitting him directly in the face with a barrage of light energy. The blast shattered the crystals coating his head and he staggered back, clutching at his eyes.

Rhea righted herself up and turned back to face him. With his true face revealed, he snarled and confronted her. At the sight that met her, Rhea staggered back in alarm.

Mephiles' face… it was…

"You!" She gasped in utter alarm recognising the face instantly. "You… you can't be…"

"Surprise!" Mephiles almost giggled, re-growing the crystalline armour and his face becoming the feral mask he had worn before. His blood shot eyes glowed bright red as an orb of dark energy sparked into life between his fingers.

Caught off guard, Rhea was unable to defend herself from the blast that hit her straight in the face.

The resulting explosion blew the doors to the central chamber open and Rhea was sent flying inwards until she slid to a stop across the floor; smoke slowly rising from her body.

Mephiles moved in after her, taking a moment to crack his neck to relieve the tension from the re-grown face.

"Finally." He muttered and moved towards the centre of the chamber and the stone placed in its centre.

A barrage of shots rang out and Mephiles stopped as several bullets rebounded off his crystalline body.

Okida was the only on still inside the chamber, the last one left to defend the Precious Stone.

"Hold it right there!" The bat stated, holding up his gun.

"This is Maginaryworld's last line of defence?" Mephiles asked with a note of disappointment in his voice. "A single mobian bat? Oh this is too much."

The crystal hedgehog made a single gesture and Okida was torn from his feet by invisible hands and hurled through the air until he hung suspended and unable in front of the Precious Stone.

"Have you not been paying attention?" Mephiles asked. "I took out this entire world's soldiers by myself. What do you honestly hope to accomplish with lead projectiles?"

Mephiles struck him head on with a kick. Sent tumbled through the air, Okida spun out of control across the royal chamber before he crashed against the Precious Stone itself with a sickeningly loud thud.

There was a discharge of energy, sparks flying left and right with the bolts carving holes up the floor. Okida shook as if in the grip of a electrical shock.

Unseen, a pulsating dark green gas escaped from the Precious Stone, floated softly through the air for a single moment before seeping into Okida's head; moving in through the ears, nose, mouth and even the eyes. Once it had been completely absorbed by Okida's being, the bat collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.

Mephiles cracked his knuckles and moved toward, striding past Okida's unconscious body and approaching the stone itself.

"Remarkable. It's not even that visually impressive." He ran a hand across its surface but there was no reaction. "Yet this one stone maintains this entire reality. Its power goes beyond even that of the Chaos Emeralds. Not even the Master Emerald can compete.

The Precious Stone, the legendary relic. The second half… the opposite of the aspect of destruction. The one thing I have yearned to possess all this time."

He patted the stone gently.

"Rest assured that you will be united with destruction once more… made whole again. It will be glorious."

* * *

-

Iapetus gritted his teeth before wrenching the crystal pinning him to the wall out of his arm. He fought back the urge to scream and hoisted himself back to his feet. It was a deep wound but his advanced Seedrian physiology could heal it given him.

The pain he could deal with later, right now that intruder had to be stopped and quickly. His wing had been crippled by the impact against the wall so all he could do was run, dripping blood onto the floor as he went.

Desperately he followed the path of death and destruction through the palace. The remains of bodies and entrails were hung everywhere.

To his dismay, he found Lumina and Void knocked unconscious on the floor. They were alive but they were covered in bruises, cuts and Void even had a broken arm.

What was even more alarming was that the door to the central chamber was blown open.

Racing in, he found Rhea lying down on the floor. Racing over, he checked her vital signs. She was alive, barely but she was alive.

But that didn't make any sense… if the intruder fought her then why didn't… his thinking process stopped as he looked up.

The chamber had been devastated. The walls cracked and crumbled where they weren't melting and Okida lay unconscious at the base of Precious Stone's podium. The podium itself was sliced in half down the middle and the Precious Stone itself was gone.

He swore a dozen curses in ancient Seedrian in the space of a minute.

The unthinkable had happened.

The Precious Stone had been stolen.

Suddenly the ground beneath his feet seemed to be melting, as it unable to maintain its physical properties; the wall began to drip and the air around them grew hotter and hotter. It looked as if everything was beginning to melt like ice on a hot day.

"No…NO!" He rushed over to the balcony and narrowly avoided falling to his death as it collapsed into liquid. Looking out across Maginaryworld, he could see everything begin to collapse.

The entire city was falling apart, piece by piece and the corruption was accelerating at an alarming rate.

This entire dimension was created by the dreams and thoughts of all sentient races. With so many conflicting ideas and ideologies, it was an unstable chaotic mess. Only the Precious Stone kept the chaos at bay and now that it was gone so where their protective barriers.

Maginaryworld world was dying.

And with the Precious Stone gone, there was nothing Iapetus could do about it.

"I'm sorry Rhea, but I have to make the only decision I can." He started before placing a hand on his forehead. "Attention all Seedrians." He spoke out using his mind, using the telepathy his race had developed to speak to all of his kind. "Maginaryworld is collapsing and Chaos is engulfing the city. Evacuate to dimension Sirus and the world of Earth immediately. I repeat, Maginaryworld is collapsing and Chaos is engulfing the city, Evacuate to dimension Sirus immediately. This is not a drill!"

* * *

-

Princess Elise struggled against the restraints that held her in place but they were simply far too strong for her to break. She could not have known that they were made using the technology of the Ancient Titans and could not be broken, not even in the heart of a star.

She was strapped to a large stone like platform and from here she could see a small blue world below. It had one natural satellite and about two artificial ones. One was a metallic space colony and the other was the gigantic stone like spacecraft to which she was attached.

She could breath, despite being exposed to space. This stony craft obviously was large enough to hold its own, thin, atmosphere.

She was scared. Very scared. For one so young she wallowed in despair. Her city had burnt. Her family was dead and gone.

But there was still one spark of hope left in her, small, but it was still there.

"Sonic..." She sniffed. "Help me…"


	65. Episode 33, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 33: Krish's second resurrection

-

Less than two thousand Seedrians were able to escape Maginaryworld before it collapsed. Many of them were caught in the chaos as their city and universe disappeared and in trapped by the near random laws of physics there, ceased to exist.

Those Seedrians which had been in other dimensions at the time had to be warned, lest they wander into an environment they could not exist in. Iapetus had to place inter-dimensional beacons, visible only to his race, rerouting them to Earth where they had evacuated to.

Earth was becoming something of a habitat and safe haven for refuges. While the two Species looked similar, the Riggerical were not treated with the same animosity as the Confederate Fesonians although a few humans in less tolerant prone areas refused to even look at them.

"Well with half of Earth's population taken away we do sort of have room for them all." Lt. Milford remarked.

The statement earned him piercingly evil glares from all around him, even from some of his own men.

"Nevermind." He quickly added nervously. "Forget I said anything."

Okida had been the one to go help the Seedrians while Topaz had been left behind to finish repairs on the Diablon. As soon as she heard that Okida had been wounded in the escape from that collapsing dimension she dropped her tools and went to find him.

When she reached the infirmary however Okida was gone. The Doctor had turned his back for a split second and then his patient had disappeared.

It didn't take much detective work to track him down. He was the only male bat in the entire area and people had seen him fly over.

Apparently he'd cleared the ruins of Central City and made his way into the long grass fields outside of town.

She found him and when she did she wished that she hadn't.

He was kneeling there in the long grass on a large grove in amidst tall trees, both hands grasping the side of his head as he rocked back and forth.

His wings were curved defensively around himself and his ears were drooping. He did this often when his emotions turned black but with them pressed almost vertical with his head this told to his inner plight.

"No… no, I won't do it!" He hissed from between clenched teeth, tossing his head back and forth.

He spazmed suddenly as she watched as if his muscles and bones were realigning to suite another set of controls.

"You'll do what I tell you to do!" He carried on, replying to his own question only… it was strange… his voice wasn't his own. "I only need you for a very brief moment, vampire spawn. Do as you're told and you'll have your body returned to you by the end of the day."

"I won't help you!" Okida's true voice replied.

"I beg to differ." The Alternate voice state coldly and the bats entire body trembled. Slowly, she moved forward. He was in pain and he needed help, that was clear.

"Okida…" She started, brushing the grass aside.

With a sudden turn the bat whipped around to face her, his flaxen yellows eyes filled with terror.

"No, get away!" He nearly shouted, staggering back a few steps. "Get away before…" He was cut off in mid sentence as if his voice had simply being turned off. There was a sudden coldness in his eyes and a spark of green appeared in the yellow.

With surprising speed he darted forth and grabbed her outstretched arm. Flying behind her, he pinned it behind her back and swung his other arm around, holding her close to him.

She tried to struggle free but froze when she felt the points of Okida's fangs on her neck.

He was prepared to bite her, to drink her blood as vampire bats were inclined to do.

"You listen to me Mobian bat." He started, talking not to her but rather to himself. "Either you cooperate or the next time I take control of your body your little human wench is going to pay the price."

In that instant, Topaz recognised this new second voice. Turning her head, she glanced back and for a second time she beheld the faint green glow in his eyes.

"No…" She breathed, cold sweat breaking out across her bow.

Then the glow was gone and Okida's true personality returned. He released her in an instant and backed off. Fear was evident in every move he made, every twitch of his face expressed true terror.

"Alright.." He muttered, now defeated. "Alright I'll…aggghh!" Topaz could almost hear the crunch as the possessing personality achieved total dominance.

"Better." He stated, spreading Okida's lips in a hideous sneer. He glanced up at Topaz. She was standing there staring at him with hide eyes filled to the brim with horror.

"A deal is a deal." He muttered with a faint shrug that unfolded his wings. "You get to live."

Without another word he beat his wings and took to the skies, leaving her behind.

* * *

-

This was not the first time Knuckles was unsure of what he should be doing.

Only this time the feeling as far deeper.

If what he had seen was to be believed, then the Ancient Titan Prometheus had been the one to build Angel Island.

Or at least designed it.

This suggested however that Angel Island was and always had been intended to fly. That when Tikal found it the island was placed on the ground deactivated only to be reawakened by the acts performed by herself and Perfect Chaos.

That made Angel Island old. Impossibly Old. Older than both Mobius and Earth. Perhaps even older than the Chaos Emeralds themselves, although how that was possible escaped the Echidna's thinking.

With Earth retaken, Knuckles was now free to take the Master Emerald from the Blue Typhoon and restore it back on Angel Island. He did indeed take the emerald there but refrained from placing it back in the shrine, at least not until he had had the opportunity to look the place over.

The Island itself sat undisturbed on the shoreline edge in the south pacific. During the occupation by the Confederation it had escaped notice and been left alone but after so long the jungle paths that he had trodden many times had completely overgrown and it was a task to work his way through it all.

Growing up here he knew every nook and cranny and did not expect to find anything. If there was any evidence to this island's creator he would have stumbled across it years ago but he looked anyway.

It was a meaningless task but one he needed to throw himself into in order to momentarily distract himself from other thoughts, ones far more disturbing.

"You're not going to find anything." Rouge told him, pointing out the obvious.

"I know." The Echidna replied. "But I have to be certain."

Ruins scattered most of the island and systematically he checked them all. It took him most of the day but as the sun as beginning to set he came to the one he'd placed last. This was the shrine in which he'd discovered the ancient Echidna time ring and the statue of Krish Kra Pal.

He hadn't come back here since he'd learned the truth about his people's war mongering ways as he hadn't wished to look upon the visage of the being responsible. Krish, even now that he had been dead for years, was like a black mark on the Echidna's mind and would probably remain so for quite some time.

Sliding down into the ruins through the hole in the ceiling, he tried to avoid looking at the statue in the centre of the chamber but had to when he reached the floor.

The statue was not anatomically correct, as the real Krish resembled the Black Arms more than the humanoid Echidnas.

The major details were disturbingly correct and Knuckles shivered at the sight of the jagged spikes and curved pincers.

"Why don't you smash that thing?" Rouge asked, landing beside Knuckles. She gazed up at the statue with disgust.

"It might start a cave in." The red echidna replied. "Besides I'm content to leave it to rot down here."

The underground ruins here weren't as large as others and Knuckles was quick to check it but as he entirely inspected there was nothing to suggest any Ancient Titan technology. Nothing complex enough to indicated that Prometheus had created the island.

Knuckles finally gave a submissive sigh of annoyance and moved toward the crack in the ceiling that led out into the sunshine.

"Nothing?" Rouge asked.

"Nothing." He repeated. "I guess if Prometheus could create something as spectacular that retreat of his and then have it hidden in plain sight of a whole planet then he can certainly hide his stuff well enough from me."

The short walk to the shrine left Knuckles with some time to reflect.

He was well into his twenties now and was reaching his prime. It was a scary thought but one he was just going to have to accept. Eventually he would no longer be able to fulfil his duties as Guardian.

Then who would take his place?

The Echidna race was extinct, accept for Tikal and himself. While the notion of continuing the species with her did occur to him he was not in love with her and was not prepared to force the issue for the sake of it.

Besides… there was another he had feelings for.

There was no point in lying about it anymore especially to himself.

He was in love with Rouge.

And he was beginning to think that he had been for some time.

Everything he had tried, even searching for something on the island he knew he'd never find; had been a distraction to prevent him from doing anything about it.

Returning to Earth to enjoy what might be a brief moment of peace; Knuckles felt that he should do something.

Of course growing up on an island without any sort of introduction to society or experience with women this would be difficult.

He knew what he had to do as he'd seen Sonic and a few others try it more than once. He glanced up to Rouge who was walking in front of him. As if she could sense he was washing she was swishing her hips a bit more than she usually did. He let this go as coincidence as she always did this when he was around.

He wanted her.

Not just physically but as a companion, to break through the utter mind numbing loneliness he had endured on this island for so damn long.

"Rouge." He began without even realizing it. The she bat blinked and looked back over her shoulder.

Knuckles was naturally courageous but of course this was one of those few times that it failed him.

But Knuckles as also headstrong and was determined not to let the armada of butterflies in his stomach ruin this chance.

Slowly he put the Master Emerald he was carrying down and looked her directly in the eyes. It was her turn to look a little worried. For all her nymphish posturing, inside Rouge was just as shy and timid as a school girl.

"I've put this off for long enough." He began. "We've been through three wars and not once did it occur to me that it might be our last. I can't keep thinking like that anymore."

He stood a nervous step forward.

"What are you saying?" She asked without taking her eyes away or flinching.

"I'm saying…" The red echidna breathed. "I'm saying I can't go one more day without telling you that…"

He was interrupted when down from the sky above came an uninvited guest. Okida let himself drop down from his flight, curving his wings back behind him as he touched down on the jungle path. Both Knuckles and Rouge sent him angry glares for disturbing them but Okida seemed either oblivious to it or not caring.

"It might be wise to hold off levitating Angel Island." He told them brushing back some of his hair. "We might need it back on the Blue Typhoon in the near future."

"I thought we discussed this already." Knuckles replied. "The Master Emerald isn't a battery. Your ship can make down with its artificial Chaos Drive engine."

"Our situation has changed." The Major added. "We have refuges coming through from Maginaryworld. Their world collapsed."

"Their what did what?" Rouge asked with stunned wide eyes.

"Collapsed?" Knuckles repeated. "How?"

"Someone stole the Precious Stone." Okida replied, moving closer. "As such, I'm afraid I need to borrow the Master Emerald." Knuckles blinked in surprise. "Just for a moment." The bat continued.

Knuckles looked Okida over.

Something was wrong here.

Okida was standing too rigidly. Usually his stance was far more relaxed and his eyes lacked the emotion that was often in full effect.

"Why would you need it?" Knuckles asked slowly, motioning behind his back to Rouge that something was up. Rouge nodded once in his line of sight and tensed herself. Even if this was the Major, their friend, if Knuckles felt that something was wrong it was worth being on alert.

"There's no time to explain." Okida told him and moved forward, almost aggressively.

"And what if I said no?" Knuckles asked and stood deliberately in front of the Emerald.

Without warning Okida pulled his gun out and fired a shot, directly at Rouge. It hit her in the leg and she collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain.

"I'm afraid I must insist." The Major replied coldly.

"Rouge!" Knuckles rushed over to her, holding her as blood seep through to stain her leotard. The bullet hadn't done very far and her leotard had prevent it from breaking bone.

Applying pressure he attempted to stem the flow of blood and she gritted her teeth in pain.

"You bas…" Knuckles started as he looked back but froze when he noticed what Okida was doing. The bat was holding his hand over the Master Emerald and his eyes were wide open and unblinking. His outline was surrounded by a faint sickly green glow and his head fur was softly waving as if being blown back by a non existence wind.

The air began thick and heavy as something, some presence, lurched forth from the emerald and entered Okida.

Knuckles could feel this presence twist, as two parts fitted together and became one.

There was a flash and suddenly all was normal.

Okida let his arm drop to his side, twirling his gun around on one finger before sliding it into its holster.

"Okida… what are you doing?" The echidna asked.

The Major laughed, rolling his head back and letting his shoulders rock back and forth.

"Oh you Echidnas; always the dumb species!" He chuckled. "I never dreamed that your civilisation would worship me so readily and yet your people simply dropped down on their knees when I spoke to them. Their outer display of intelligence hid the fools within."

He turned around and Knuckles stopped breathing at the sight of his eyes. They were glowing bright green.

He had seen this affect before.

"No…no not you!" He breathed.

Okida, still with a wide smile on his face, spread his large wings out and with two flaps took to the air. Laughing insanely he flew higher and higher until he vanished up through the canopy, the sound of his laughs echoing through the jungle.

Racing over to the Master Emerald, Knuckles held his hand over it and to his horror he received the confirmation that he dreaded.

That half of Krish's mind that had been sealed inside the Emerald after that final battle was gone.

"Knuckles… help…" a pained voice began and glancing back he was rouge, still with the injury to her leg.

He scooped her up easily in his arms, trying to keep the injury from loosing any more blood. The Master Emerald would be safe here but right now what mattered to him as the woman he was holding.

The demon that had escaped… even THIS demon… it could wait.

He took her back to the shrine where Rouge had left her belongings. Amongst this collection of clutter was a first aid kit. The bullet had to be removed and Knuckles had to remove his gloves for it, using his fingers to pick it out

He had treated wounds before so he knew what to do, tying a thick clothe around the injury to try and force the blood to clot.

Mobians had a faster healing rate than humans and would recover from far more serious wounds. If this injury was properly treated it would be fine.

"I saw him too." Rouge began, looking up. Knuckles didn't meet her eyes, keeping his attention focused on attending to the wound.

"Krish… Krish is alive!" She continued. He winced, paralyzed by the words for a moment before he carried on.


	66. Episode 33, part 2

Shadow now knew what he had to do.

And if uniquely prepared he knew, somehow, deep within his soul… that it was his mission and duty to destroy the evil that the Black Doom stood for.

To that end, the Angel Wing, the monstrous spaceship in orbit around the Earth would have to be destroyed.

But he could not do this alone. It was simply too vast and he did not have the fire power necessary to destroy it.

G.U.N's fleet no longer existed and the Imperial Fesonian Guard was following the Confederation out of the solar system. This left the only group capable of bringing down such a mighty craft as the Black Arms.

Their fleet had been able to escape with minimal losses and their flagship was still in one piece. Currently it was docked in the atmosphere of Earth so the crew could repair minor damages before moving on.

"Tikal…I…" He started as they emerged out of the Chaos Control warp on the deck of the ship. ""What I did… what I did to Chaos… I…" He felt as if he daren't utter the words yet he knew he must. "I'm sorry."

He would blame her for being angry with him. He was angry with himself for many reasons but this was the first one on the list.

"Chaos is not dead." Tikal told him. "He can't die. He is an immortal spirit. You weakened him but he exists as energy. In time he will reform."

There was no doubt that their relationship had been damaged. Tikal was the only person besides Maria that Shadow had ever opened up to.

He truly believed that given time he might have even shared his life with her.

Now however it felt awkward to even be around her.

But Shadow was not a quitter. It would take time perhaps but he would earn back the closeness they had enjoyed before.

But first there was this matter to attend to.

Rikoye, admiral of the Black Arm fleet and commander of the sect, was waiting for them on the bridge.

He'd seen them arrive by watching the ships monitors and sat there in the captain's seat as they arrived.

The Black Arm scientist Jailos, the being who cured the Dragon Blood amongst the felines, was present as well.

"It'd take constant bombardment." The commander warned them. "For at least three days by our entire fleet in order to bring it down." He waved causally off to the side were detailed analysis of the giant craft was being conducted. "We're recuperating from battle and our fleet's ammunition is all but spent."

"You have these ships don't you?" Shadow asked. "Wouldn't these do damage?"

Rikoye blinked once and stared long and hard at the black and red hedgehog.

"Are you suggesting we do suicide runs? Crash our own ships into it?" The commander of the Black Arms stood up. "I will have no part in that!"

"Of course not." Shadow replied. "Set the ships on auto pilot or remote control them. You're the only ones on Earth who can take that thing down."

Rikoye shook his head.

"I'm sorry but right now we're in too bad a shape to…" He was cut off as an alarm started blaring nearby. Jailos moved over to the nearby security console and waved her hand over the half biological controls.

"We have an intruder sir." She reported. "Bringing up monitors 6, 7 and 10." Holographic images appeared one by one, each showing a section of corridor somewhere on the ship.

Suddenly one of them fizzled and went out. Then another and finally they all went off. Someone was cutting off their security grid.

"Only Fesonians know how to do this." Jailos remarked, this time placing her hand directly on the console. "And all our crew's bio readings are accounted for."

"Confederates?" Rikoye demanded.

Suddenly the door to the bridge buckled and bent forward. Then with one final surge they flew inward and Shadow had to wrench Tikal out of the way before they crushed her.

Striding in through the now unoccupied doorway came Okida. Shadow just stared. Those doors had been punches off their supports. Okida didn't have the strength to do that. Even Shadow himself had to gather himself for that kind of destruction.

"Okida, what are you doing?" Tikal demanded as the bat stepped forward. Without warning the bat's eyes glowed a powerful neon green, the light highlighting his face.

"Out of my way!" He declared in a voice that was definitely not his own. Swiping his hand across, Okida swatted Shadow out of the way. His strength enhanced to tremendous levels the blow sent the female Echidna flying until she crashed into the side of a panel denting it.

"Tikal!" Shadow was instantly by her side.

"You… you're not Okida!" Tikal declared against the pain. Her head was swimming and she could feel a nasty bruise developing on her back. She was lucky to have escaped breaking her ribs. The bat laughed out load exposing both sets of fangs.

"Oh and how much detective work did you need to do to figure that one out?" He remarked with a thick sneer. "Oh don't answer that, I've got more things to worry about than your cognitive abilities. Now if you don't mind…"

Without hesitation Okida leapt forward with surprising agility and sank his fangs into the Rikoye's neck; piercing the scaly skin with ease. A spray of blood erupted out to stain his lips.

Rikoye cried out in pain but the noise froze almost instantly as his mouth hung open. All those watching could feel a sudden surge, as something of powerful presence jumped from the bat to the commander. As soon as it had left him, Okida's eyes change from pure green back to their normal colours.

Then his body went limp and he collapsed to the floor now completely unconscious. Rikoye still stood there, staggering forward; the jagged marks made by the fangs swallowing up on the side of his neck.

"Commander!" Jailos started.

"Stay back!" He yelled at her, his flaxen yellow eyes changing; becoming glazed and blood red. "I… I can't hold him back much longer!" Slowly his body mass was starting to increase, his height propelling itself up. His tail grew longer and far more muscular. "Run you idiots, RUN!"

"Hold me back? You?" A voice asked, coming out of Rikoye's mouth. "Don't insult me."

Tikal gasped and staggered back against the wall, her eyes suddenly alive with recognition. She knew what was happening.

"Shadow!" she started, whirling around. "Quickly, while he's still forming, attack!" Shadow just looked at her dumbfounded.

"While whose still forming? He asked. "I don't underst…" He froze in mid sentence as jagged bony spikes started sprouting out of the outside jagged edge of Rikoye's arms and his toes and fingers gained a serrated, claw like edge.

The feet were arching back while the legs became far more powerful and muscular. The two toes snapped forth each with a serrated claw.

Plates of protective bone started growing across his chest and down his shins. The outside of the legs gained the same row of spikes as the arms and a slender set of four near the tip of his tail like a stegosaurus.

He was taking on a form that was more than familiar to Shadow.

His neck stretched out, growing longer by half a foot as the overall mass of the body swelled. As he grew he knocked over the chair behind him, his long muscular tail lashing back and forth with its spikes dangerously.

Out of his cheeks, two large insect pincers with a jagged inside edge sprouted, curving down past his chin. From the top of the head, tow curving horns lanced back over the shoulders, short horns that served more as a frill than any offensive weaponry.

Even when his back reached the ceiling he didn't stop growing and after crouching for so long the mass was finally too much and the metal barrier broke as he kept on growing up into the room above.

Shadow pushed Tikal back out of the way as debris nearly crashed on her.

With one final surge, the recognisable mind of Rikoye disappeared and the red eyes became alive with something else.

The lips spread itself apart in an evil sneer and the few being in control of this body straightened itself back up.

"Ah yes!" A new voice declared. "Alive, truly once more!" He thrust his powerful arms up into the air and every panel around in the control room exploded, sparking with green bolts of lightning. A few of the Black Arms were caught in the explosion and tossed to the floor.

This monstrous creature, while laughing insanely, leapt up high and punched its way through the ceiling of the room above.

Shadow ran after it and stared up through the hole it had left in the ceiling and watched as it literally ripped its way up through the ship, pieces of metal and mortar falling down in its wake.

"The Destroyer lives!" Jailos almost screamed, backing up in terror. Shadow snarled and darted back, putting his arm around Tikal.

"Look after him." The dark hedgehog stated with a toss of his head in the comatose Okida's general direction. Racing forth Shadow leapt up and pulling the female Echidna with him, he rebounded up through the scene of desolation the reborn Krish had left behind him.

Shadow's mind reeled at this implication as he emerged out onto the ship's top deck. All of his worst nightmares were coming true one by one. It was as if the universe itself was conspiring to destroy his sanity.

As if waiting for them, this new creature stood with its back to them staring out across the cloudy horizon with the tail swishing back and forth almost excitedly.

"Krish!" Shadow declared, putting Tikal down. "Krish Kra Pal!"

The towering giant chuckled.

"I must say you certainly have an interesting circle of friends." It began. "Had I known your bat friend was a vampire I would have used him for a resurrection the first time.

His unique genetic pattern, _**his blood**_, combined with my own altered Fesonian DNA has given me power the likes of which I've only dreamed of."

The beast flexed both arms either side testing his muscles. His entire body rippled with well toned muscle and undeniable power in response.

"And I certainly like this new look. Much better, not quite as bulky. Always thought I could do with loosing a little weight."

With a loud swishing sound its tail made as it swung, it moved to look Shadow head on.

"Honestly? I hypothesis I might be a match for the Black Doom in this body."

Staring in those red eyes Shadow was forced to admit to himself know that this indeed Krish, returned to the flesh once more. The being that had ruined his life and the lives of nearly every person he had had contact with was alive.

"I don't care how many times you've cheated death but this time I'm putting you in the ground for good!" The dark hedgehog hissed, holding up his hand. Sparks of golden lightning sparked across his palm and culminated in the centre as a ball of light. Krish just laughed unfazed.

"Am impulsive soul you are Shadow, but a fool you are not. You pale in comparison to me and you know it."

Predictably, he attacked anyway.

Gathering all the power he could muster into a single Chaos Spear he flew forward sending a shockwave back the blew Tikal's dreadlocks back past her hairline. Krish simply smiled and stood there, waiting for the blow.

Shadow threw his fist forward, unleashing the energy that crackled through him like a bolt of lightning.

"CHAOS SPEAR!!!"

The attack was neutralised with ease as Krish held up a single finger, placing it in the path of the oncoming discharge. The bolt struck the digit and then fizzled out as if it was a candle flame douched by water.

Growling in pure anger, Shadow shot forward and went on the physical offensive. Darting in close, he tried successfully to slam a succession of punches directly into Krish's face.

The demonic fesonian didn't even flinch or even blink. It was as if Shadow were punching concrete.

Kicks had about as effective.

Finally when he had had enough, Krish lashed out with intense speed grabbing shadow by the wrist and holding him there in mid air.

"Bah you're one track mind bores me." He muttered before flinging Shadow back almost playfully, as if he were a cat batting away a ball of string.

Shadow did a flip in mid air, righting himself before he slid to a stop next to Tikal.

"The both of us have more important things to consider now than your pointless attempts to kill me."

Shadow simply grunted and called forth another Chaos Spear.

"Besides, right now you have more urgent concerns. The plight of your dear Maria for one."

Shadow flinched but only slightly.

Krish's new body was, undeniably, an improvement over the last. It was sleeker and lacked the cumbersome muscle that his original state had had.

The pincers no longer replaced a mouth and instead curved either side almost like the horns on a male goat.

The spikes too were far shorter and his back no longer burned with green fire, although his eyes were alight with more than enough spark to make up for that. The armoured plates across his chest, back and shins were also a need edition and he also seemed naturally a lot taller.

While he had the power to control his size, he seemed far at ease with this larger state which dwarfed the two of them. At this height he was giant compared to them.

The face was the most radically affected. It retained the Fesonian basics, eyes with no nose only with a far more visible mouth than the rest of the species.

Inexpediently, Tikal marched right back Shadow and walked right up towards Krish. The demon noticed her and crouched down onto one knee to get a better long at the small creature before him.

"My my, little Tikal. Grown bold in the last six years have you? How brazen of you to stand so defiantly before one you feared so much as a child."

"I did fear you." She admitted. "But I have seen these Confederation you speak so fondly of. I have seen the Fesonian species and now I know that you are no divine spirit."

Krish's expression turned sour.

"You are a ghoul Krish. You survive by taking the vessels of others and warping them. Mishoal your willing servant. Now Rikoye. How will be next in your sick bid to preserve your immortality?"

Krish looked genuinely stunned. Never before had an Echidna ever spoken back to him.

"Well, as refreshingly direct as your question might be, I really don't have time to get into a debate with you."

He simply replied and then looked over at Shadow.

"You spoke to me of the Black Doom… and bizarrely as I see the mark on your arm is gone…" Shadow called back the Chaos Spear and raised his arm to show that the mark identifying him as one of Black Doom's puppets was gone.

"…perhaps we may talk further."

"One conservation with you is enough for one eternity." The black hedgehog muttered in disgust.

"Oh but you must talk with me." Krish insisted. "After all do you not wish to kill the Black Doom?" His swished his tail back and forth behind him. "He has Maria. He plans on unleashing unspeakable horror on the universe that will make my own attempt to destroy this world look like a spring morning.

You are in need of allies to destroy both him and his agents before the gate can be opened."

"You would aid us?" Tikal asked with the flat emotionless tone of utter contempt and disbelief.

"Aid you?" Krish asked matching the tone. "Don't insult me. The only reason I make this offer is because I do not wish the Black Doom to succeed and that gives us an interest in common."

Shadow spat to the side and wiped his lips with the back of his head.

"Ah you're insane. You honestly believe I'm going to even consider working with you after the unconscionable things you did?

I should send you back to oblivion with a Chaos Blast right here and now."

The words 'Chaos Blast' had an affect on Krish that Shadow had not expected. The giant demon staggered back several steps and half raised his arms defensively. Without a shadow of a doubt there was fear in his eyes.

Shadow grinned.

"Oh you don't like that idea?" He asked stepping forward. Krish took another step back.

"You can't intimidate me." Krish remarked back but his faltering tone did not give over the impression he was being truthful.

Shadow could see now that despite a new body Krish had paid a price for it. After his last defeat a terrible fear had been burned into his soul.

Now he was terrified of that one technique and the mere mention of it could effectively paralyse him.

"You're wasting time!" Krish blurted out. "Every second you waste on trying to bully me, the closer the Black Doom comes to victory!"

"You still have not answered her question." Shadow pointed out. "Why would you aid us?"

Krish drew in a deep breath, swelling his chest as if in attempt of an animalistic show of dominance.

"I thought it might be obvious, at least to you Shadow." He began slowly. "Vengeance."

Shadow narrowed an eye at him.

"I have been watching, with keen interest at what goes on around me." The demon explained. "And I know now that my brother, the Doom's Eye, is dead and has been dead for a long time now.

Burned from the inside out by the Black Doom and left a puppet so he could control _**our**_ empire through him."

Krish clenched a fist.

"I will take back my brothers honour by carving it out of that… that monsters hide!" He then glared down at Shadow. "But I can't get past his defences and his minions without your assistance."

"So that's it." Shadow began smugly. "It's not so much that we need your help. It's you who needs us."

Krish narrowed his eyes to near slits as if fuming.

"In the end Shadow, whether you assist me or not, really comes down to this." The towering fesonian demon began slowly. "Which of us do you hate more?

Me, the being who was responsible for Maria's death….

Or the Black Doom… the vile creature that tricked you into turning her into a slave and now toys with her like a puppet on a string?"

That was a question Shadow did not have an immediate answer for.


	67. Episode 34, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 34: Curtain Call

* * *

While it was not under the best of circumstances Sonic was glad to see the Earth again.

"Earth?" Silver repeated with a raised eyebrow. "You named your planet after dirt?"

"Earth is just the translated name when spoken in English." Amy explained as the three hedgehogs stood, looking out the window as the ship approached the planet. Despite everything that had gone on, it looked perfectly normal, exactly the way they had left it. The only visible difference was the giant Angel Wing that they could see even from here.

After Mephiles had kidnapped Elise it would fairly obvious where he would go to with her. If he wanted to open Nexus for the Black Doom, he would need the Angel Wing.

"From what I learned in college its actual name is Terra Firma."

Silver regarded the planet for a moment. A small world compared to others with three satellites now in orbit. One was a natural moon with some mechanical alterations. The Second was a purely artificial construct, a space colony if he guessed right. The third was Angel Wing itself, a Mayan style vessel the size of a moon.

Silver had grown up lacking a home planet but Blaze… his Blaze… had spoken of this world often. She claimed that she had only been there briefly but it had given her clan shelter during a difficult time and was perhaps the most beautiful world she had come across. She never admitted that to anyone bar Silver himself.

"Meow its gorgeous." Sera said, expressed undisguised admiration as she moved forward to stare through the glass. "You must be proud to have a planet like this." She moved aside and ushered her large father forward. "See daddy? This is what I've been talking about. A world not destroyed by pollution and industry."

"Its also not a world that's the centre of a galactic Federation." Her larger, tubby father remarked. "And let's save this discussion for later. Right now we've got more important things to do."

"Uh oh." The blue hedgehog suddenly began with a troubled look coming over his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Jet asked.

"Look." Sonic remarked, pointing towards the artificial satellite in orbit around the planet. Everyone looked closer and suddenly it was clear.

"The Ark!" Amy declared with wide eyes. "It's back here!"

How the space colony had been able to move across the galaxy remained a mystery to them but there it was, back in its regular orbit as if it had never left. They knew it was no longer Shadow in command of it, so who had ordered it back here?

"Are we too late, meow?" Sera asked.

"If we were Iblis would be eating the planet right in front of us." Silver reminded her without so much as a glance in her direction. "No, there's still time."

"But perhaps not time enough." A familiar voice stated and for the second time, a holographic transmission flashed up near the bridge controls.

"Eggman, you've got a lot of guts contacting us after what you just did to Fenrir and Soleanna!" Sonic snapped.

"Shut up." The scientist stated cutting him off, his transmission garbled by the long distance between the signals source and its recipients. Sonic let his mouth hang open for a moment before he pressed his lips together in a frown.

"It didn't take me long to figure out that Princess Elise has been taken by the Black Doom's agents." Eggman carried on. "That was precisely what I was trying to avoid and if you cretins had let me do my job this could have been avoided."

"You were going to kill her!" Amy told him.

"The end justifies the means, as I believe I've made clear." Eggman's tone was patronizing. "But now that's not important. Our enemy now has everything they need to open the gate to Nexus. The Angel Wing, the two Scion's and all seven Chaos Emeralds."

There was a pregnant silence.

"Wait…" Silver started, keeping his gaze fixed on the Earth through the window. "If that's true then why haven't they opened the gate yet?"

"He's right." Blaze added. "It's been days since Mephiles took Elise. Surely they would have had time to open it by now."

"Regardless, we have one chance and one chance left to stop this from happening." Eggman continued. "I'm on my way back to Earth with all the forces I can muster. My Egg Factory, My Egg Carrier, My Fleet and half the Imperial Fesonian guard. Once we arrive we will open fire on the Angel Wing and destroy it."

"You can't!" Amy exclaimed. "The Princess might be on there!"

Eggman fixed her with a gaze that said 'and this should concern me, why?'

"You're going to have to be my advance party." He continued after a moment. "You'll reach the Angel Wing long before I do. You'll have to try and stop the gate from opening or at least slow it down so I get within bombardment range."

"If you think for one second that we're going to be taking orders from you then…"

"Sonic, haven't you got it yet? Our argument, my ambitions, your heroism… none of it matters now!" For perhaps the first time, Eggman sounded truly sincere. "We are all a stones throw away from Armageddon!"

"Do you want the entire universe to die because of one girl?"

Sonic's unwavering stare continued.

Eggman eventually admitted defeat.

"Very well, attempt to rescue her if you must but if all else fails then you must kill her. You will have no other option!"

Eggman shut off his transmission and left them all standing there with a heavy pregnant silence.

"I'm using Chaos Control to get there now. Eggman was right in saying we're out of time." Sonic eventually muttered, however reluctantly.

"I'm going with you." Amy added almost immediately, her metallic hammer at her side.

"Without a Chaos Emerald, the number of people I can take with me is limited." The blue hedgehog told her. "I'll only be able to take one more with me."

Blaze and Silver cast a glance at each other. Blaze nodded once.

"I'll go." The white hedgehog spoke up. "Mephiles is my enemy, from my time…my responsibility."

Sonic nodded once.

* * *

-

The pinnacle of the Angel Wing looked like a needle from far off but was actually a plat platform many yards across. There the three wings that curved around the outside of the Angel wing met, with three massive tips overshadowing the tip itself. Sensing a high concentration of Chaos energy from this point, Sonic was easily able to use Chaos Control to transport himself; Amy and Silver there.

"Man, my fur is standing on end." The blue hedgehog muttered when they arrived out of the green flash. "The Chaos Emeralds must be somewhere…

"Sonic look!" Amy declared, pointed towards the centre of the platform. A small spike jutted out directly in the middle about half a meter up.

Princess Elise was chained halfway up the massive stone spike in the middle, shackled there like a sacrifice. She was gagged, a strap of leather wrapped around her mouth and when she saw them, she made muffled sounds strained against her chains furiously.

Amy moved forth but Sonic stopped her with an out stretched arm.

"I've been in this kind of a situation before, Amy." He reminded her. "This stinks of a trap." He looked at her over his shoulder. "Wait here. If this is a trap then at least you'll be out of range and be able to do something."

Reluctant she nodded and Sonic moved forward.

Silver let his eyes wander around this place while Sonic went for the princess. He kept up his guard, knowing Mephiles well enough to expect some diabolical subterfuge.

It was a strange, such a stark constant of this place that it was hard to take in. The floor beneath their feet and the spikes around where the wings met above was all made from a substance that looked and felt stone but was far harder and not as brittle. Almost like the consistency of metal. The pedestal the princess was chained to as in the middle of a large disc and the floor around it encircled like a winding snake.

Silver backed up a step when he realised that the stone like pattern on the floor wasn't just a random swirl. They were like Mayan mosaics, crudely making a picture. There were smaller pictures within, revealing much of a history Silver already knew. He saw how the ancient Seedrians who had once ruled this universe had been destroyed, whipped out when their leader driven insane had unlashed a horror. Iblis; the world devourer and the Flames of Disaster.

But this also revealed something more. Silver knelt down to examine the images. For the first time he held the true origin of Iblis.

Long ago, long before this mighty Angel Wing had been built and even before the Seedrian race had come into being; there had a been a mighty godlike force. Silver was unable to read the writing below the image that gave this god a name.

This god created time itself and once his work was done he separated into his two halves. His aspect of creation became a jewel of some kind, but his aspect of destruction became the horrific planet eating monster that Silver knew all too well.

The story went on, revealing how the first lord of the Seedrians had attempted to bring this god back to life. He planned to do this by taking the Creation jewel and using it to merge with the destruction half, making himself the god with power over time.

Before this could happen, this lord was overthrown and killed by his two offspring. The eldest had taken the jewel from his fathers hand but the prospect of its power corrupted him and he went insane.

He unleashed Iblis on their planet, hoping to use the devourer to wipe the universe clean so that he might remould it in his own image. Coming full circle, this insane Seedrian was defeated by HIS son and cast with his supporters into a dark realm and Iblis resealed.

"Black Doom." Silver muttered, tracing his hands along the edge of the image. Glancing up, he saw three larger images arranged like the points of a triangle around the pedestal. He stood up to look at them properly.

Sonic removed the gag from the Princess, who coughed several times and then started crying; sobbing almost uncontrollably.

"Er…Sonic…" Silver started.

The blue hedgehog looked back and then followed Silver's gaze. The three images were unmistakable. The first was a curved, yet spiky image outlined in blue.

The second was a darker shape, most jagged than the other two with a red and black outline.

The third and final image like longer spikes down the back with five shorter ones forming a pattern on the top. This image was outlined in white.

"See? What did I tell you, a trap." Sonic muttered.

With a loud sparking sound, the outside stone edge separated from the inside disc and moved back. Before any of them could react, a barrier of green light leapt up from the gap, arching up over their heads until it formed a perfect dome.

"Sonic… Sonic I can't get through." Amy called, hammering against the side of the bubble with her hammer but the barrier remained in place completely steadfast. Silver tried to kick it from the inside and it held. Trying again he tried hitting it with a telekinetic blast, only to have the compressed space rebound and hit him square in the face.

"Very clever observation." A voice began. Recognising it, both Silver and Sonic looked back. The Princess gritted her teeth and shook with terror as a terrible blackness, a pool of utter darkness filtered up through the stone.

Slowly the blackness filtered up, twisting as it went; moulding like putty before it sprouted arms and legs and became solid. Crystals formed on its surface almost like armour and a pair of blood stone, ruby like eyes with feral green iris' opened.

"Welcome, welcome, I was thinking to think you'd be late." Mephiles stated, slowly clapping his hands with a clink as crystal hit crystal. "We'll get started in a moment but I'll give Shadow a few more minutes to turn up." He pointed to the three images. "You'll all need to be here for the ceremony to work."

"What?" Sonic asked, looking back at the images again.

"Haven't worked it through yet?" Mephiles asked slowly shaking his head. "Well I must say I'm disappointed. You of all people Sonic, might have been a bit more astute."

He glanced up at the frightened princess.

"Do you remember when Dark Oak became Iapetus again? How it only occurred when the three of you collided with the Chaos Emeralds around?"

Sonic remembered all too well. Something had told him that it had been a significant moment although he was not at all sure why.

"Well, we're going to recreate that right here." Mephiles gestured to his left and clicked his fingers; the sound being a cloud clink.

There was a short stunting down and Amy had to leap out of the way as a compartment opened up underneath her. Six more compartments opened up and once all seven were open, more barriers of energy moved up to fill the gap. When, slowly, each one was filled by a stone pedestal, each delicately engraved with runes and on top of each was a Chaos Emerald.

All Seven were here, collected finally after being strewn across the galaxy by Dark Oak.

"Ah buts that's not the best part of this." The crystalline hedgehog stated coldly and then turned to look directly up to the stone point above the princess. It shook and then peeled like, stone plates sliding back before the inside was revealed.

"The Precious Stone!" Sonic gasped at the sight of the pink crystal. "But… but if that's here…

"Then Maginaryworld must have collapsed." Mephiles finished for him. "Yes it did, quite extraordinary to watch really. It's a small sample of what will happen to everything else soon so I took it as a trailer. And now I'm anxious to see the movie."

"Why are you doing this?" The blue hedgehog demanded angrily. Mephiles chuckled and folded his arms.

"It is said that this universe was born with a bang, the explosion throwing out the dust and debris that make up planets and stars." He explained; his eyes alight with a humour that unnerved Sonic intently.

"And that eventually existence will end with the big crunch, when existence shrinks back upon itself and returns to how it was before.

That process had been repeating itself for eternity, one bang follow by a crunch followed by another bang to begin the cycle again. This universe is not the first to come along… but it shall be the last!"

"Is this a showdown or a physics lesson?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That continuation of time and space is about to come to an end." Mephiles told him sharply. "This cycle stops here. When this universe and all multi-verses beyond it are nullified there will be nothing left but the void!"

"Does the Black Doom know this?" Amy asked, her voice sounding muffled through the bubble. Mephiles tilted his head back and laughed.

"What he doesn't know certainly won't hurt him." He remarked. "Well, at least not until the universe dies that is."

"You're nuts!" Silver declared. "We're going to stop you!"

Mephiles simply laughed, spreading his arms out wide.

"Silver. Do you have such a defective recall that you have forgotten who I am?"

"Oh I remember who you are and what you did." The white hedgehog muttered. "But fighting alongside Sonic, even for a short time, has taught me that I can't keep running from bullies like you. I'm going to stop you, right here and right now."

"It's two against one Mephiles." Sonic declared. "You're going down."


	68. Episode 34, part 2

--

Mephiles only looked amused.

"Wrong again." He stated, folding his arms. Sonic raised an eyebrow questioningly before a sudden green flash erupted nearby. It was the familiar green flash that was a side affect of a teleportation involving Chaos Control.

Appearing next to him was a golden female hedgehog with deep blue eyes, clad in battle armour often used by the Fesonian Confederates.

"Oh fantastic." Sonic muttered.

Maria cracked her knuckles then her neck, spreading her lips in a sadistic sneer with the same wicked look in her eyes. She raised her arms and held them forth in a fighting stance, revealing the jagged mark on her arm that marked her as one of the agents of the demons of Nexus. The Black Doom still had control over her.

"About time." Mephiles stated, glancing to the side with irritation clear in his voice.

"Shadow isn't here." Maria said but her voice was different and Sonic recognised it. It belonged to the Black Doom. He was controlling her personally.

"He should be here within the next few minutes." Mephiles replied. "We'll get the show on the road then but what you say for the moment we amuse ourselves?"

"So long as they remain alive for just long enough." Black Doom added cautiously through Maria.

Mephiles chuckled and unfolded his arms. He snapped his head from side to side before launching himself forward with horrific speed.

Sonic knew deep down there he had no chance in a one on one fight with Mephiles, never mind with Maria here to back him up. Mephiles himself was as strong as Krish…. Stronger even.

Still he was going to try. It took only a spilt second to gather the necessary strength and courage before he charged as well, meeting Mephiles head on.

"Silver, look out!" Amy cried out but not in time to save him as Maria charged forth, going an intense acrobatic flip before coming down with a kick.

Silver reached up and caught her using telekinesis. Secure in his grip he tossed her down into the ground, the body landing with a loud thud. To his surprise however she simply seemed to bounce off, twirl in the air and come down at him far faster than his mind could react.

The blow caught him across the head but he was able to control himself enough to use his mind to levitate himself off the ground, out of the way of her next lunge. Tearing some tiles up from the ground he flung them telekinetically at her.

She dodged all the projectiles with ease before catching the last one and sending it back, spinning like a shuriken.

It cut him across the arm, blood flying out from the wound. Silver cried out and pressed his hand against it, leaving himself open as Maria leap up high in the air tackling him and slamming the hedgehog down into the ground.

Silver tried to push her off him using his telekinesis but he wasn't enough, her physical strength already succeeding in allowing her to wrap her hands around his throat. Unable to breath he couldn't concentrate on telekinesis

"Goodnight sweet Silver." Maria declared with a sadistic grin, holding one fist up high before throwing it down sharply.

Before the blow could shatter Silver's skull, there was a violent green flash and a kick came swinging around out of nowhere knocking it across the width of the platform until she crashed into Mephiles knocking them both over. Sonic backed off, clearly out of breath from attempting to keep up with the crystalline hedgehog.

Silver glanced up to see his saviour. Briefly he made out a fesonian shape only far larger with spikes along the shoulders and a pair of horns.

"What is this?" Mephiles demanded, glancing up with irritation at the unexpected interference. "YOU!!!"

Sonic glanced around and then staggered back in utter shock at the sight that met him. The features had changed dramatically but there was no mistaking the creature standing there for them for anything else.

"Well it's nice to see you have priorities, Shadow." The demon remarked, flexing his muscles.

"No…" Sonic breathed. "No you can't be…"

"Is this a private party or can anyone join in?" Krish Kra Pal resurrected asked, spreading his new lips in a sneer before with a great flap of his wings he soured forward and grabbed both Mephiles and Maria by the heads and tossing them high into the air. Swinging his entire body around, Krish brought his stegosaurus like tail around to bat them out of the air like flies.

The spikes struck Mephiles, impaling his crystalline body with a loud shattering sound; fragments of his crystalline armour flying everywhere.

Maria rebounded and snarling like an animal, attempting to strike Krish from behind but before she could, a green flash erupted in mid air, forcing her to stop.

Marching out of the warp came Shadow. The dark hedgehog had the most pissed off and annoyed expression on his face it was set aside from his usual stern look.

Maria swung her hand up before because she could strike him, he seized her arm and forced her to stop.

"No more Black Doom. You've taken enough from me already." He declared, talking through her to the master pulling the strings. "I'm taking her back right here and now."

Mephiles attempted to back off, to give his body time to heal but Krish was not going to have any of it. Keeping up the advantage he had gained from the element of surprise he charge, smashing a massive fist directly into the crystal hedgehog's face.

"What are you waiting for?" Krish demanded, glancing back over his shoulder towards Sonic and Silver. "Get the princess out of here!"

"But… but how…" Sonic grasped for words. "You… you're dead!"

"If I can come back from the dead once I can most certainly do it again!" Krish snapped. "Now, unless you want all of space and time to unravel you will get the princess out of here."

Before he could say anything more it was Mephiles' turn to go on the offensive, flying at Krish with surprising strength and speed to smash a flying kick directly into his stomach. Krish's size afforded him no advantage as he sent flying, tumbled across the platform until he nearly tipped off the edge.

"Do as he says, get her out of here!" Shadow stated without taking his eyes off Maria.

"Shadow, Krish was dead! We killed him… how?" The blue hedgehog began to stutter.

"We can talk about it later. JUST MOVE!"

Sonic blinked once.

"er…Right."

Mephiles growled angrily, risking a glance back to watch as Sonic and Silver made for the chained Elise.

"I have waited lifetimes for this moment I will not be denied now!" He declared, grabbing Krish by the horns.

Krish tossed his head forward and slammed a head-butt directly into Mephiles face and as the hedgehog recoiled, the Destroyer grabbed him by the arm and held his flat palm up against him. A torrent of green fire erupted forth, engulfing Mephiles completely.

Krish smiled but the smirk was then wiped form his face as Mephiles emerged from the inferno completely unharmed.

"Come, whatever, face the destroyer!" Krish growled.

Mephiles only smiled before moving forward with impossible speed and smashing a punch directly into Krish's chest.

He didn't; let up, landing a succession of punches and kicks at almost light speed before bringing his leg around in a super strong kick that cracked Krish' ribs on contact and sent him spiralling back before crashing into one of the Angel Wing's spires.

Krish had only been hit so hard once more in his life. The pain was… after so long without a body, refreshing.

He tired to get up but before he could, something pressed down hard on the top of his head.

"It really must hurt Krish." Mephiles whispered to him. "You… the infamous Destroyer, the terror of his galaxy; the strongest and most powerful being ever known to exist. Being beaten like this must be so damaging to your ego… so humiliating."

"When I'm done with you, you'll know the exact meaning of the word 'humiliation'." Krish reached up and grabbed Mephiles by the ankle, his sharp grip shattering the crystal with the shards flying off in all directions.

Stunned by the pain, Mephiles left himself open to a blow when Krish's spiked tail arched up around and smashed directly through the hedgehog's head. Caught on the spikes, Mephiles was sent flying as Krish whipped around with a flick of his tail.

The body impacted the other side of the Angel Wing's spiked top, sinking into the stone.

Krish stood back up to catch his breath but then suddenly froze.

"What in the name of Feson?" He asked as he watched Mephiles' body slid back up to its feet, its head twisted almost completely around with a hole directly through it. With a sickening crunch is swung around 180 degrees to face forward. Then the hole began to heal, new crystal forming before the cavity was gone completely.

Krish snarled angrily, the sound like a jungle cat and raised both hands above his head. There was a loud rippling around and the air around him pulsed as if hit with a shockwave. With a sudden surged, the bone plates across Krish;'s back began to open up. They spread out, becoming new bones as they went, articulated joints and long fingers.

One finished the bones had become those of bat like wings. Finishing his transformation, a membrane sketched between the fingers and filled with blood vessels.

Several beats lifted him into the air before he flew forward, Mephiles grinned, spreading his lips to reveal the jagged teeth within before he leapt forth himself. The two of them bet in mid, exchange both a massively powerful blow.

Sonic tugged at the shackles binding the princess to the alter but the iron restraints refused to budge.

"Move!" Silver declared, holding a hand forth. The blue marks on the back of his hand lighting up. Sonic swung back as Silver telekinetically picked the metal inks apart, one by one.

His concentration was interrupted as Krish and Mephiles crashed down nearby, biting and clawing savagely at each other. It was like watching two forces to nature clashing against each other. Crystalline fragments were flying as Mephiles was dealt blows and blood cascaded out into the air whenever Krish got hit.

Amy was still trying to get inside, repeatedly striking against the barrier with her hammer but her efforts were for not.

Mephiles gained the upper hand in the struggle by grabbing Krish' hand as it came down to strike him and focusing his strength he broke the Destroyer's wrist by simply making a fist. Krish was forced to back off, leaving an opening for Mephiles to go on the offensive; calling forth jagged crystal spikes that shot out of the ground like bullets; several of them slamming directly into Krish; one of them landing perilously close to his head.

Krish tore it out and turned back to face Mephiles, all too late as the crystalline hedgehog was almost directly in front of him.

The blow Mephiles landed was cruel, a kick with his jagged crystalline feet peiricng the skin and muscle, blood spurted out almost like a geyser and Krish screeched like a wounded animal.

A blow in his weakened state sent Krish toppling down to the ground.

"Seeing as you are the third strongest being in existence next to the Black Doom and myself, you must contain a tremendous amount of life-force inside your body."

Mephiles licked his lips.

"I wonder how it would taste."

Krish gasped as he felt some of his strength leave him, flowing out of his body through the physical contact directly into Mephiles. He felt weaker and weaker and some of the fire left his eyes.

"Killing me… killing me will get you nothing." He spluttered.

"It'll get me a descent meal." Mephiles replied and started drawing in more life force. He stopped when he noticed, that despite the drain and the wounds, Krish had a smile parting his lips.

Glancing up sharply, he saw that Silver had pried apart the chains holding Elise to the platform and Sonic was tied to tear off the others.

"You are lucky, nothing more." He snarled, stamping down sharply to slam Krish further into the stone.

Maria tried to strike Shadow with her other hand by again he stopped her.

"Maria, listen to me." He told her. "Black Doom has no hold over you. Your body is what he controls, not the mind. The mind can overcome the body. Fight him!"

For a moment some of the savagery left her eyes.

"I… I can't." She stammered.

"Yet…yes you can. You're strong enough. If I could free myself…" He gestured to the healing remains of the mark he had once had on his arm, a mark which was fading away. "So can you." He pulled up her sleeve, exposing the mark the Black Doom had laid upon her; to cement his puppet like control.

"He marked me… I can't… I can't…" Maria gasped, straining to even speak without Black Doom's consent.

"Yes you can." He laid his hand across the jagged shell like mark. "I give you the chance." Employing the same technique Dark Oak… now Iapetus… had used on him, Shadow flooded the arm he held with energy; not Chaos Energy for that was unstable. Instead he used life force. Never before he had understood the true potential of life force. It was only when Iapetus had opened his eyes to the techniques that could be used that he knew just how powerful it could be.

The mark sizzled like frying bacon, letting off steam and smoke and it seemed to cry out as if in pain.

"You insolent child!" A voice spoke through Maria's mouth but it was not hers. "I will not permit this."

"Stamp your feet all you want, this ends now." Shadow stated and continued, the mark on her arm growing faded.

"The only thing ending here is your hope, idiot!" Black Doom snarled. Maria glanced off to the side. "NOW MEPHILES!!! KILL HIM NOW!"

Shadow looked up sharply.

Suddenly… everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

Mephiles rose up out of the darkness like a shadow. Sonic, too distracted by trying to free Elise, he didn't notice him.

"Sonic! Sonic look out!" Amy cried out. Sonic turned in head half in response but by that time it was already too late.

Mephiles' muzzle seemed to pull apart, his mouth exposed with jagged crystal like teeth.

Suddenly everything seemed to move in slow motion and all Amy could do from the sidelines was watch as the crystalline hedgehog drew back his left hand; energy travelling from his body into a tight ball between his jagged fingers before throwing it forward; the energy morphing into a deadly spear of sparking lightning that flew through the air at the three battling hedgehog's.

It coursed past Silver, narrowly missing him; passing over Shadow's head before finally hitting its target.

Sonic had only enough time to look up briefly before it struck him directly in the chest. A small exclamation escaped him as the lightning tore through his skin, then through his flesh before escaping out the back; blasting a hole straight through. Blood flew out into the air and time stopped in that instant, the moment branding itself into the memories of all those present.

Elise reached out; her face a picture of pure horror as her protector stumbled backwards. Holding a hand to the wound through his chest, blood seeping through his fingers and staining his blue fur black he collapsed to his knees before finally falling down; the sound of his body striking the floor an ominously loud thud.

"NO!" Amy cried out trying to break through the dome with her hammer; striking at the energy barrier with increasingly savage blows; tears of despair swelling up in her eyes.

Mephiles let his head roll back and he let out a load laugh, a laugh full of evil glee and sadistic pleasure as they all watched the life slowly drain from Sonic's eyes.

"Sonic… Sonic no!" Elise cried, trying to hold him but nothing she could do at that moment could stop it. With one final small quiet gasp, the last breath escaped his lips and the greatest hero the Earth and indeed the rest of the universe had ever known died.

"It… it can't be." Shadow began with sudden dawning horror breaking through his usual cold façade.

Finally realizing it was too late, Amy let her hammer fall out of her grasp and she collapsed to her knees, complete and utter despair completely overwhelming her. She had company in her despair for Elise was there as well, emotion boiling up in her and in that instant she could not contain her tears any longer.

"No…" She started, all her emotional barriers disappearing as she arched her back and cried out into the air. "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

All seven chaos emeralds, placed around the dome started glowing one after the other; the entire dome suddenly burning with light. That light spread from its surface down through the Angel Wing, lighting up the many mosaic patterns across the ship making it stand out in the middle of space.

Those on Earth glanced up as a second sun appeared in the sky.

Amongst her refugees, Rhea trembled in fear for she knew what was happening now and seeing their immortal queen so terrified, the Seedrians began to quake in fear as well.

"Finally!" Mephiles began in utter glee as the entire ship started to groan, long unused mechanisms starting to move. The three petals like wings around Angel Wing's hull shock violently for a moment before as one they began to fold back; moving out like an unfolding flower in spring; their tips forming the points of a triangle.

The inside of Angel Wing was exposed; a tower engraved with thousands of runes; all glowing blood red.

"Those of you still left, bare witness to this moment that shall forever be burned into the collective memory of all that is!" The crystalline hedgehog continued, spreading his arms out-wide. The energy from the chaos emeralds began feeding into Angel Wing; three sphere's of power appearing on the end of each point growing larger and larger. Lightning sparked between them; forming the triangle that maintained itself for only a second; before the energy was unleashed; moving forth in the form of a beam of intense light.

Space and time themselves both seemed to scream in outrage and reality rippled like the surface of a pond when a pebble is dropped into it.

"The seal is broken and now behold the gates of hell! The third winter begins today!!!"

---

(In Chris' voice)

Never before, in my coddeled life, have I known such despair. Sonic...gone.

And now as the Ragnarok saga continues with the Mephiles chapter... let there be an end to all things...


	69. Episode 35, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 35: And the world came tumbling down

* * *

Metal Sonic's attempts to blow up the gate had failed. Even with the high level explosives he had he could not destroy it. The construct was simply too large and all he resulted in doing was scaring it. Before too long he had run out of chemical explosive and he was now forced to complete more drastic measures.

"I'm going to have to cave this thing in." He remarked out load, his eyes glowing a powerful blood red as he scanned the top of the gate for a fault line he could exploit. His updated Spider mech had crushed all resistance within the immediate vicinity of the gate and now that the Confederation had been driven from here, the slaves were free. The slaves now making for the top of the gate, after being trapped in the bottom, could hear the calls of celebration getting closer.

Metal Sonic was slightly more realistic however. As soon as the patrolled Confederation fleet got here it would bombard the planet from orbit if it had to in order to get rid of them.

Vanilla was still in Vector's arms as they led the slaves up to the top of the dreadful pit and back towards the sunlight. The medicine she received that helped but she was still very week.

"All in all, a one hundred percent successful trip." Charmy announced, buzzing in front of Espio enthusiastically

Before the chameleon could even open his mouth to reply, the ground beneath their feet began to shake as in the grip of an intense tremor. The entire small planet beneath them quivered as something grabbed a hold of it, shaking it down to its core.

There was a sudden bright flash and the runes and markings decorating the inside of the gate began to emit a horrible green light.

"What?" The foul smelling hooded creature that followed Metal Sonic around began. "It's happening now! He has the Chaos Emeralds! He's opening the gate!"

Metal Sonic readied himself, preparing to fire off a blast of charged particles in an attempt to bring down the surrounding stone work.

"Don't bother, it's too late!" The hooded being told him. "We have to hurry now, if we're not out of the structure before the connection is made…then we'll all die!"

Similar events were happening on various other planets across the galaxy.

On Chimera, the forests surrounding Metal City began to tremble as if gripped by an earthquake. The sky above sparks with unnatural lightning and torrent down, leaving scars down the sides of many buildings.

On Kraken, the land of the sky began to shake as if gripped by impossible tremors. The sea of clouds it was floating it burning with black energies.

Fenrir, the ruined kingdom of Soleanna, watched up from their war torn city as the skies above grew dark and powerful thunder began to crash in the distance.

"What on Earth?" Hare began glancing up at the sky above it. Storm clouds were gathering above, forming from nothing with moments and sparking with bolts of lightning. Those were no ordinary clouds; that was clear at once for they were blood red and the lightning jet black.

The Titaness Rhea shook her head.

"Nothing on Earth." She replied as the sky darkened, the light from the sun darkening as the Earth was engulfed by darkness.

"Daddy what's going on?" Sera demanded trying to maintain her grip on the chair as the room suddenly lurched to the side; her ears drooping as her tail wrapped around the chair leg for extra support.

"I can't maintain our course!" Jet declared, desperately fumbling at the controls.

Miles was at the window, staring through the glass in utter dismay towards the Earth as the Angel Wing began to pull itself open like a flower.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Decoe began as the Egg Carrier began to tremble as if shaking out of its mind, a thick series of shockwaves passing through space. Even the new ship in their fleet, Egg Factory was having trouble with this kind of intergalactic turbulence. The combined fleet of the Eggman Empire and Fesonian Imperial Royal Guard were following behind.

"He failed…" Eggman started wit his eyes widening in new found terror. "For the first time… he failed."

In the darkness of Nexus, Black Doom held forth both hands, feeling the power reach across to him. He began as his outline was suddenly highlighted bright neon blue. The power, feeding to him from Angel Wing, was incredible. Finally he had the power to reach across the divide and with his outstretched hands take hold of the universe he longed to return to.

"CONTROL!" Black doom clenched his hands together and the sudden flare grew outwards with tremendous force.

Before his palace inside of Nexus, the gate he had built came to life in a surge of energy; the runes engraved over it lighting up.

People on Earth watched in utter amazement as a green star appeared above their planet for a moment and then faded away. Floating high above them was the instantly recognisable shape of a planet, smaller than their own but large enough to rival the moon in size.

Some of the debris from the Confederates now ruined orbital defences was quickly drawn in by its gravity and began orbiting this new body. That did not last long as a chain, each metal link an entire city block long, lanced down from the smaller planet and smashed through the debris on its way towards the Earth.

The link flew through the atmosphere leaving a trail of glowing orange embers after it. It crashed down through the remains of Central City, sinking deep into the ground and demolishing many of the buildings in its wake. Those survivors there all began running en masse to escape the crumbling road behind them.

With the chain attached to the planet below, the transported Miracle planet wasn't going anywhere. The two dimensionally unstable planets had created a weak point in time and space and the boundary between the two sides had dissolved enough for the attempt to be made.

"Vector, what the heck just happened?" Charmy asked, his head whirling. He could barely keep himself up, the sense of vertigo.

Somehow, they had made it to the top of the pit before a violent flash that erupted from behind them. After that… Charmy couldn't remember anything. He shook his head and blinked several times to clear his vision.

"Are you alright?" Vector asked. He'd used his massive bulk to shield Vanilla from whatever force had hit them.

"Er… Vector…" Charmy began, looking up, his face clearly showing alarm and stunned awe.

"Not now, Charmy." Vector replied, looking the female rabbit in his arms over.

"I really think you should look at this Vector." Espio added, standing beside Charmy as the two of them looked up into the sky.

"What?" The crocodile snapped, glancing up; only to be met with the last thing he had ever expected to see in his life.

The planet this small world was anchored to had changed. No longer was it tethered to an alien planet in some far off point in the galaxy, now its chain was attached directly to the familiar blue and green sphere known as Earth.

Within the confines of his dark prison, Black Doom stood before the gate as it began to open. All three eyes were wide open, his arms and claws raised in delight and joy.

"The time has arrived my little Cosmo." He declared. "There is no shying away from your duty now."

Atop the gate, trapped by the vine like entanglements woven into her skin; was Cosmo. As if her blood was being siphoned off to keep the gate open she was pinned there as if crucified.

"You can not escape your destiny little one." A voice, but not Black Doom's whispered to her from out of the shadows. She managed to push her eyes open to see that standing behind the Black Doom himself were his armies, each one led by one of the Metarex. Deformed monsters all ravening for blood and gore.

"Our sentence in this place is over and freedom waits for us."

"You will help us do this." They began saying, their voices overlapping each other.

"You can not escape the inevitable." Gripped by utter despair, shecould no longer resist. Instantly her eyes started glowing pure white and the gate itself began to shake and the swirling vortex within began to solidify. "You can not escape!"

"We are FREE!"

Gathering the energy from the Chaos Emeralds, the Angel Wing fired a beam not unlike that of the Eclipse Cannon directly down towards the Miracle planet.

"Oh shit oh shit oh SHIT!!!" Espio declared, about turning and grabbing Charmy under one arm and sprinting away from the gate as quickly as possible as the beam crashed down towards it.

Vector did the same with Vanilla, running as fast as his short legs would allow.

But rather than a destructive force, the beam struck the finished Divine Gate and the power fed into it.

Just as Vector and the others cleared the massive construct, a swirling green vortex began to swirl within.

"No…" Silver breathed, watching from the Angel Wing's pinnacle. "No not again!"

Emerging out of the swirling darkness, blurred from view at first, came the first invader. Two pairs of giant crab pincers made of dark stone, engraved with glowing blood red lines etched over the black surface rose out of the gate and swung there lancing out into space. One by one they clamped onto the four corners of the porthole as if forcing it to stay open. Then came the rest of the bridge; dark shapes jutting out through the gate; piece by piece falling into place into a ring that encircled the gate and build itself onto the pincers.

Mephiles clicked his fingers and the barrier keeping them inside disappeared. Instantly Amy rushed over to Sonic's body, cradling it in her arms.

"Sonic! Sonic answer me!!!" The body only stared back with a lifeless gaze. Even in her arms she could feel the warm slowly leave him. Whatever hope she had retained faded in that instant. There was no doubt now, Sonic was dead.

"You… you animal!!" Shadow snarled, holding up his hand and gathering all the power he could bear forth. His body crackled like a ball of lightning before he unleashed his attack directly at the crystalline hedgehog.

An attack of that magnitude shook the ground they stood on as it shot forth but Mephiles swatted it aside with a single stroke of his arm; batting it up into space where it dissipated.

"I would kill you here and now but the Black Doom wants the pleasure of destroying you himself." He retorted, before glancing back over his shoulder at Amy. The pink hedgehog was still holding Sonic to her, clutching his corpse and wailing in utter despair. "I will be taking that however."

He raided his hand and instantly the body was torn from her grasp by invisible hands. As if levitated using telekinesis it crossed over to Mephiles and floated beside him. Amy tried to run after it.

"No... don't!" She was batted aside like a fly and Mephiles made his move to leave with Sonic's body floating behind him.

"The Black Doom waits for you on the Miracle Planet, Shadow and it would do well not to keep him waiting. He does have your adopted sister after all."

Shadow shot around and watched in alarm as Maria, still clutching at her head as she tried desperately to fight the Black Doom off, disappeared. Gripped by a Chaos Control warp she vanished, recalled to wherever the Black Doom wanted her to be.

Krish hoisted himself out of the rubble and gathering his own power, threw his hand forward sending a torrent of burning green fire rocketing forth; swirling like a pillar of intense heat directly at Mephiles.

Mephiles saw it coming and before it struck, he and his claimed prize faded away.

Back on Earth, spiralling vortexes of dark purple clouds began to appear across the globe; in major cities, in the middle of the countryside and even within the depths of the oceans. Once fully formed they began towering holes in the time and space continuum. People stopped simply to stare at them in amazement.

But that amazement quickly turned to horror as demonic shapes began to emerge out of them. In Central City, a three headed dog with dark brown fur and fangs the size of cars emerged out of the tears and crushed the terrified Fesonian soldiers under its huge paws.

In Tokyo, the populace began to run in terror as three snake creatures emerged out of the waters leading into the city. Each neck was attached to the same body, a twisting hydra with sent flames and particles discharges flying from its mouth as it produced to tear into the buildings.

People in France ran terrified as a giant emerged from the tear in the middle of Paris. A three headed titan with a body that rivalled the size of the Eiffel tower roared up into the sky. The body was bulky and fat but rimmed with tremendous amounts of muscle. Each head was slightly different but all had the same three eyes set into the skull. Reaching up, the creature tore off the top of the tower and used it as a club to smash down the other buildings around it.

More holes and tears were ripping themselves open all over the entire planet and more and more three headed creatures of varying size and shapes were moving out of them, causing destruction on a massive scale wherever they went.

"Yes my brothers, show these pathetic mortals our wrath!" One of their commanders declared as he stood atop the half ruined Big Ben. He was human sized and clad in armour, much the same as Dark Oak, accept his armour was red instead of violet. A single eye stood out in the helm. He was Red Pine, the second in command of the Metarex Titans.

"And this is just the beginning!" Another of the commanders announced to the monsters tearing through cities in Russia. This one was thinner than Red Pine and had a long flowing blue cloak trailing out behind him. His armour was jet black and this had given him the name, Black Narcissus; the third in command. His large, egg shaped eye watching the destruction. It satisfied him greatly.

"This planet is just the first of many we shall cleanse!" The third commander had armour that gave him an insect like appearance, with three eyes instead of one upon his helm. His limbs were long and thin with delicate articulated fingers; six on each hand and as thin as a pencil. He was known as Pale Bay Leaf.

"This universe is ours again!" Yellow Zelkova, the fourth and final commander laughed as he tore into the fray along with his brood, delighting in killing whatever he came across. His flaxen yellow bulky armour gleamed brightly in the flashes of black lightning above.

* * *

-

Emerging out of Chaos Control at the Gate, Shadow looked around him as the slave tents and it was easy to surmise exactly how this monstrosity had been constructed. Being this close to the rip in time and space he could feel the distortion, the utter wrongness of it all… the same sensation he had felt when Krish had opened his own gate, however briefly.

There, waiting to meet him on the edge of that swirling vortex into the abyss was Black Doom.

This was no projection though. This was solid flesh and bone. Finally… after countless eons imprisoned within the underworld, Cronos the Titan aka the Black Doom had returned from exile.

He floated atop of a stone platform that overlooked the swirling vortex, as if it were a private viewing booth.

"Ah Shadow… here you are." He declared, turning to look directly at him as Shadow walked, deliberately slow towards him. "I have everything I need now. I bear you no ill will despite your transgression so your life is spared. Come and watch as the new order takes rise."

"Forget it." Shadow remarked. "You're a parasite. What you're doing here isn't creating order, its simply dealing out death."

Black Doom did not look overly impressed.

"It is clear you have not acquired one shred of gratitude." Shadow ignored him and kept walking forwards. "Is this how you repay me for all I've done for both you and this universe?" Shadow's fists clenched either side of himself with sparks of golden energy flying between them. "My rule will bring an end to corruption, war and greed. The golden age will bring peace and prosperity to all beings through all reality."

"At what price?" Shadow asked keeping his eyes set against the floating being before him. "Their freedom? Their planets? Their lives? Their minds and souls?" His eyes narrowed and he raised a hand. "I've heard enough of your nonsense for one lifetime. You're boring me to death Black Doom, You're going down!" A Chaos Spear arched from between his fingers and screamed across the distance between them. Black Doom raised a hand and an invisible barrier formed before him. As the energy attack struck, it melted into the defence and disappeared.

"Insolent worm!" Black Doom snarled. "You haven't the faintest idea who you're defying." Shadow fired another Chaos Spear and it had the exact same effect, vanishing before it even came close. "You came from me; you are as much my spawn as any of the Metarex in my army." Seeing that energy attacks weren't working, Shadow tried to for a direct approach. He skated forward and tried to land a punch. Black Doom dodged it with acrobatic ease.

Lashing out, Black Doom grabbed Shadow by the arm and tossed him back towards the ground. The shadow managed to right himself in mid just before he did, landed unsteadily on his feet.

"So it's true then, what Jericho told me." He began standing up and spreading his arms. "Now that I think about it, it makes sense. I should have put the pieces together sooner." Black Doom floated down so he was almost level with Shadow. "Gerald…. He used both the genetic code of a mobian hedgehog and your own… to create me." The final long awaited piece of the puzzle had been put into place.

"The most brilliant mind but a pitiful sentimentality." Black Doom replied scornfully. "I gave you life. From a single drop of my blood, he was able to give you many of my own powers, such as energy manipulation and the ability to use Chaos Control." He raised his hand. "The perfect tool for him to fight my son with."

"You're son?" Shadow repeated with a startled expression. "You mean to tell me…"

"Eons ago the Black Arms banished a being of extraordinary power inside Nexus, entrapping him in the very prison that held both myself and my brothers in arms." His opponent explained. "He was unable to control his powers and failing to adapt to that demonic place. While he was not as strong as most of us, we took him under our care and adopted him.

He became like a son to me and I taught him how to fight with those destructive powers, teaching him the secrets of Nexus and our plan to eventually escape and bring about peace in the universe." Black Doom snorted angrily. "But he was too fixated on revenge to care about our goals, so much so that he used his influence and various followers on Earth and Mobius to effect his own return.

Once he did so, he closed the gate behind him and left the rest of us there to rot." A gleam of sadistic gleam crossed all three eyes at once. "Regardless of his intentions however, Krish Kra Pal did do me a great service by providing Gerald Robotnik with the incentive to create you.

Also, his battles with you have trained your mind and body, making you my perfect agent.

Even in his desertion my prodigal son served me well." Shadow felt his teeth grinding involuntarily together.

"So…this is the grand truth is it?" He asked through his teeth. "All of us, Krish and Gerald included, were simply your puppets?" Black Doom chuckled deep in his throat. Growling he charged forwards readying a kick.

"That statement may be more apt that you think." He raised his left hand and clenched all three fingers. Suddenly Shadow felt his muscle stiffen and his limbs freeze. He tried to move but his body wasn't listening. The blood pumping through his veins almost seemed to freeze leaving him rotted to the spot.

"What… what's going…" He managed to blurt out as his arm moved by itself, a fist clenching out before him before swinging back and smashing itself into his stomach. The blow caused to gag and fall over onto his knees.

"Dance my little puppet." Black Doom laughed and again Shadow's own fists raised themselves to smash repeatedly into him, knocking him about until finally he crashed down to the ground. "Now that my powers have had a chance to adapt to this reality again, I can feel the part of me in you. My blood blows through your veins and through that, I can manipulate your nerve impulses. Effectively giving me control over your body."

"You bastard…" Shadow grunted, half finishing his sentence as his right fist smashed itself across his cheek. Blood mixed with saliva flew out his mouth and he staggered back onto his knees.

"It would have taken less time for the gathering of the Emeralds to occur if I could have done this at such long range, but alas such beautiful control works only at close proximity." Black Doom continued. "You have served me well Shadow and thanks to you the golden age that was my dominion will soon begin again.

But you have outlived your usefulness."

Shadow tried to move again and again but his body did not respond. It simply lay there like a rag doll. A shadow fell over him and glancing up, he saw the face of Maria's new incarnation staring down at him. Her quills waved out behind her like hair and eyes alight with sadistic mirth, lips spread in a large grin showing her teeth.

"Perhaps this time my dear, you can make sure he stays down." Without a moments hesitation Maria kicked Shadow across the stomach sending him rolling a short distance before he came to a stop.

"Maria…listen to me." He began. He tried to stand up but Black Doom's hold on his body refused to let him. "I know you can hear me. You're stronger than this. You can fight him."

"Puppets do not have free will Shadow." Black Doom snorted. "Take my word for it." Maria picked Shadow up by the throat, smacked him several times with her free hand before tossing him high up into the air. This new body Black Doom had encased her soul inside had impressive strength. Not a match for his own, but incapacitated as he was by Black Doom's control he couldn't even dodge.

"Damn you!" Shadow hissed, before Maria tossed him back from his shoulders and slammed a series of powerful and swift punches against his stomach sending him flying backwards and slamming into the ground.

"Gerald?" Shadow started in stunned alarm. Maria managed to force her head up and sighting the reanimated corpse the sadistic look on her face melted into one of complete shock.

"Grandfather…" She breathed.

"Ah Gerald." The Black doom began to chuckled, turning its large head towards him as Gerald walked forth into the sight; revealing his rotting body; kept moving only by the dark science developed after the Metarex Titans had been cast into Nexus.

Metal Sonic stood at his side.

The robotic hedgehog looked over the scene before him, his red eclipsed eyes scanning the floating torso being that his sensors told him posed the most threat. So this was the Black Doom? Certainly a frightened spectacle, worthy of the devil myths he inspired.

"You did fine work building the gate for me." The Black Doom continued, ignoring Metal Sonic was if he wasn't important. "A masterpiece of engineering."

"You!" Shadow snarled. "You built the gate for him?!" Any shock he had at seeing his creator now disappeared, replaced by a blinding sensation of rage and betrayal.

"Bah it's an abomination." Gerald retorted without even looking at any of them. "A dark contraption hat should never have been considered, let alone built."

Black Doom narrowed his two smaller eyes.

"You would do well to hold your treacherous tongue!" He hissed and jabbed a talon forward accusingly. "Do you need reminding by whose grace you even exist?"

Gerald folded his creaking arms behind his back and chuckled.

"Ho ho, how could I forget?" He asked and then walked leisurely forward. His demnor was almost complete alien to the hostile situation around him.

"Well, I'd certainly say things are turning out for the better." He started, gazing up at the stars. "Maria has a life again, my grandson has foresworn the path of evil and the hosts of good have gathered here to fight you."

Black Doom's third eye widened at the professors sheer gall.

"Oh I'll be the first to admit that things haven't gone COMPLETELY according to plan. It was a rather complex plan after all, taking near half a century to complete and I would have been more surprised had it succeeded without any problems. For the most part however I am satisfied."

"Satisfied?" Shadow repeated with a hiss. "With Armageddon happening around us, your granddaughter a slave… this has you satisfied?"

"Oh his hold on either of you isn't as concrete as he'd like you to think it is." Gerald replied with a sly grin that Shadow had only before seen on Eggman's face.

"Enough of this!" Black Doom snapped. "You will be silent now." He raised his hand and a spark of lightning buzzed between his claws.

Without warning a large shape dropped down and landed just behind the professor; shaking the ground with its impact. A pair of large wings spread out.

"Well you know the saying…" Gerald muttered, hardly surprised that Krish reborn had come to his aid. "Circumstance makes strange bedfellows."

Shadow only stared.

Krish had been the reason Gerald had gone insane before his 'official' death and yet the two of them stood there as allies! His concept of the world had been turned around many times before but this one felt him feeling giddy.

"Hello … dad." Krish began facing, cracking his knuckles.

Gerald looked back at Metal Sonic.

"Care to help?" He asked.

As a machine, even one with emotion, Metal Sonic could easily control the amount of surprise he had at seeing Krish alive again.

Still it was unsettling, meaning that events beyond his own perception had been going haywire as well but right now they were at an advance against this new threat.

"Gerald, I sustained you… gave you life again." Black Doom began, all three eyes glowing intently. "And yet you throw your lot in with weaklings… and even the being that gave you the madness that I had to strip away.

You must be punished!"

Gerald did not look concerned.

"I've died once already. Death holds not sting for me."

"Then this won't hurt a bit." Black Doom clenched a fist, then slowly released it. The thread holding Gerald's long tormented soul to his corpse was severed. Freed, his spirit fled and the decayed flesh toppled backwards until it collapsed over the side of the terrace and into the swirling depths of Nexus.

"GRANDFATHER!!!!" Maria cried out in the up most despair, tears breaking out onto her face.

"Now that was un-chivalrous." Krish remarked without even looking back.

"You've got some nerve talking to 'me' of Chivalry and honour." Black Doom spat contemptuously. "You betrayed all of us and left the Metarex Titans in Nexus while you returned to the material world by yourself."

"Your plan to use Iblis to destroy the universe was and IS insanity!" Krish told him flapping his wings. "I saw that right from the moment to told me, so long ago now in that dark place.

I'll admit I've done some pretty immoral deeds in my time but you… you make me look like a girl scout!"

"Enough of this!" Black Doom hissed. "Maria, kill Shadow while I deal with this upstart."

Unable to resist, Maria moved forward while Shadow lay there unable to defend himself.

"Shadow… please…" The black hedgehog pried an eye open. Maria's fist was held above him ready to strike, but shook as intentions within collided against one another, free will in conflict with Black Doom's control.

"What is this?" The floating demon asked looking a little confused as this sudden display of willpower. He arched his claws and Maria shuddered under the effort to keep herself from landing another blow.

Shadow opened both eyes and looked up directly into hers. Through them now he could see her soul. "Please...help me..." She whispered, tears starting to well up in her eyes and running down her cheeks.

That was all the emotional resolve Shadow needed.

Baring his teeth and fighting against Black Doom's control on himself, the black and red hedgehog hoisted himself back to his feet with every muscle trying to force him down again by he kept going; fighting against the grip Black Doom. It took all the willpower he could muster but eventually he rose to his feet.

The floating being tried to re-establish his control, but with both of them fighting him now he felt his grip on them slowly slipping.

"You know something Black Doom?" Shadow asked as he straight himself up staring him directly in the face. "I owe you big time.

I tried many times before to find my own path, to put the past behind me; but I never could. I couldn't appreciate what it truly meant to 'forgive and forget.'" An unexpected smile crossed his face.

The hedgehog wrapped his arms around Maria and held her close, her head resting on his shoulder.

"But now, thanks to you, I do.

To put the past behind me… I'm letting go."

"Letting go?" Black Doom repeated widening his left lower eye. "Just what does that mean?"

"Simple." Shadow replied. "I'm forgiving those who organized those terrible events on the ARK. Even Krish. " Black Doom looked alarmed. "You're a snake oil salesman and for a while at least, I was taken in by your fast talking. But enough's enough Black Doom.

I made a promise and I'm here to keep it." Maria's eyes widened when she heard those words and she glanced up into Shadow's eyes. The black and red hedgehog had changed; even by looking at him she could feel the wall of ice that had surrounded his heart had now gone; completely. As if it had never been there.

"Today…" Shadow began and Maria mimed with him. "I put my past behind me!" As if someone had let go of an elastic cord, Black Doom felt the control link he had to the two of them snap and slam back into him painfully.

Shadow glanced down at Maria, who looked back up and him nodded once. His smile widened and he let go of her, turning to face Black Doom completely, hands flying into a fighting stance.

"So be it Shadow!" The floating creature replied fuming with anger. "Your past, present and future ends here! Today!" The claws arched and fire balls glowing bright red appeared between them. "All of you, Krish, Shadow, Maria… and whatever metallic contraption you are…"

Metal Sonic's eyes glowed red in annoyance.

"Prepare to die!!!"


	70. Episode 35, part 2

Krish moved forward but Shadow held up an arm to block him.

"No." The Dark hedgehog remarked. "He's mine!"

Krish looked back before he grinned, showing his new fangs.

"Go right ahead."

Energy blasts soured back as forth as Black Doom and Shadow clashed, each fighting for supremacy. Maria watched from the sidelines, now freed from the control Black Doom had over her body and mind.

"Chaos Spear!" Golden energy bolts sparked across the distance between them and when they came within striking range, Black Doom held up a hand and cast them aside if the hedgehog had been throwing stones. Shadow soured with his leg brought back, Black Doom slid backwards to avoid the kick with drawing runes in the air with his claws.

"On guard." He declared and several spheres of glowing red energy appeared around him, sparking with bolts of blue lightning. "Swift Strike!" All of those balls flew forward towards Shadow, who sharply skated to the left to try and avoid them. The attacks kept following him as if they heat seekers.

"Chaos Control!" His entire body vanished in a brief flash of green light as they came dangerously close to striking him. The spheres crashed into the floor causing it to explode in a fire storm but missing Shadow nevertheless.

"You honestly think you can outdo me with my own technique?" Black Doom demanded, about facing just in time to see Shadow came flying at him from out of the warp. The titan caught the punch in his claws, before swinging the hedgehog around sharply and smashing him into the floor on his back with a sickening crunch. "My third eye observers the ultimate Ether through which you travel through using Chaos Control and allows me to predict where you will emerge." Despite the pain Shadow grinned up at him.

"Thanks I'll take that into consideration." Grabbing a hold of the Titan's sleeve and using the momentum already in his body, the hedgehog tossed Black Doom through the air to smash his body against the floor.

Flipping back to his feet, Shadow soured forward and while Black Doom picked himself back up Shadow was already calling the energy required into his body. "Chaos BLAST!" The hedgehog's body glowed blood red for a single moment before the energy rocketed outwards in all directions forming a dome of red light that engulfed Black Doom.

Maria held her arms up to cover her eyes as pieces of dust and brick fragments went flying past her, her quills flying out behind her as the wind soured outwards.

"Begone!" Black Doom's voice declared and there was a sudden flash of gold from within the gloom followed by a loud cry as Shadow soured out and crashed into the floor, rolling to a stop before her. As the smoke cleared Black Doom appeared unfazed by Shadow's attack.

"The Chaos Spear…" The black and red hedgehog muttered struggling to pick himself back up. "Ok, how'd you manage that?" Black Doom chuckled lightly.

"You forget Shadow that your powers come from me." The Titan snapped his fingers and a ball of golden energy came into being above his palm. "Energy manipulation is something I specialize in." Without even thinking about it, Shadow turned and snatched Maria up in his arms, skating off at top speed as Black Doom began firing multiple blasts of golden energy at them in rapid succession.

"Damn this guy is tougher than I thought." Shadow muttered to himself, trying to stay outside of the Titan's range. He felt Maria's arms hold herself closer to him. He glanced down to see her eyes looking up at him without a word. She had faith in him, in his ability to pull this one off.

Placing her down at a safe distance, Shadow paused long enough to smile before skating forward to confront Black Doom directly. "But you're not tough enough!" Sliding through the blasts, the hedgehog called forward his own Chaos Spear and gathered more than the energy required for it into his hand; his entire arm sparking with golden bolts.

"Defiant pup!" The Titan snarled. "You dare to defy your own creator? Without me you wouldn't even exist." Shadow swirled up in the air and fired the enhanced Chaos Spear at close range. Without time to dodge Black Doom caught the full blast head on and was sent flying backwards until he crashed into the wall.

"I don't care Black Doom!" Shadow replied, his left arm going numb from the energy discharged. "I don't care why I was put on this Earth. I even don't care if my design comes from Satan himself!" Ignoring the numbness, he called the beginnings of two more attacks into the space between his fingers. "The fact is I exist and that's all I need to know!" Going on a spectacular offensive, Shadow fired as many Chaos Spears as he could possibly manage into Black Doom's body before the Titan could get out of the way.

Snarling, Black Doom held both hands out in front of himself a thick curved shield of light materialized blocking the barrage of golden energy spears.

"I will not play this game!" He snapped, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Suddenly his mass began to swell, his body expanding outwards as he grew. The robe around him was beginning to shred. "This ends now!" A pair of bat wing likes snapped out either side as his shadow began to fall over them.

His entire body twisted and mutated, pulsating like the beating of a heart as it grew larger and larger. Black Doom's faced opened out, the strange grooves peeling up to reveal themselves to be octopus like tentacles reaching down as far as the middle of the chest.

As his clothes fell around him, his plant like body was revealed. Massive root like tentacles lashed down onto the floor, sinking down through it to gain an anchor hold.

The arms began to extend, growing longer and thinner; the claws sharpening and gaining a serrated edge. The horns curved back over the head forming a bony frill rimmed with spikes, all intermixed with stripes of black and red. The centre eye widened and the other two shrunk.

From the should blades, two giant wings spread up and out; stretching out like the wings of a bat ; their outside edge covered in black scales with the inner edge honeycombed with veins and arteries.

A second head then sprouted, as large as the first yet growing out like that of a Siamese twin. His twisted body looked almost cancerously twisted and had the appearance out of some lovecraft horror novel.

The overall mass kept increasing until shadow was casting itself over the length of the gate, rivalling one of the massive spikes around the gates edge in size. Long bony spikes jutted out from his shoulder line and down his arms, confirming to Shadow that this really was the father, adopted or not, of the Destroyer.

There could be no doubting his heritage now.

"Ah disgusting." Krish spat.

"So this is your true form?" Shadow asked, placing Maria down.

"My evolution." The demonic titan corrected him. "My visage resulting from both the energies culminated inside me and the long imprisonment within Nexus. All these forged together to create this magnificent body overflowing with power.

You may behold Shadow, the true Ultimate Life form! Me! Submit!"

In answer, Krish curved his arms and cupped his claws. A ball of green fire sparked in the gap and once it was hot enough, he tossed it forth.

Metal Sonic responded in kind, opening up the hidden compartments over his body and charging the particles in the air. It didn't take long for the energy to accumulate and he fired forth an attack of its own, a sparking ball of power.

The two attacks didn't even make contract, instead they struck an invisible shield surrounding the monster and dissipated.

"Then be the first to know the wrath of Devil Doom." The mouth behind the tentacles declared.

The Blue Typhoon was approaching the equator of the Miracle Planet and from here they could all see the horrific creature as it slowly rose up into the air. The ship had launched as quickly as it could, being the only space worthy vessel on Earth.

"What in the name of all that's holy is that?" Chuck demanded pointing off as the tower itself crumbled and the hideous form rose up into the sky, the massive wings keeping the expansive body up in the air.

Rhea's face twisted to express so much emotional anguish it was impossible to comprehend in human terms.

"That's him." Void began reading the expression for what it meant. "That's Black Doom!"

"Jesus, look at the size of him!" Rouge breathed taking an involuntary step backwards.

As Jet's ship not entered into orbit around Earth, Blaze gazed out through the window and watched as the giant demon spread its wings and roared; the sound even being heard through the vacuum of space.

"And so…" She began slowly. "So begins Ragnarok."

Miles suddenly darted forward, nearly pushing Jet out of the ship's pilot seat.

"There!" He declared, jabbing a finger down towards the Miracle Planet and the swirling vortex that was the gate. "Take us down!"

"Into that thing?" The Rogue asked in alarm. "Are you nuts?"

"She's down there!" Miles was adamant, his eyes wild with sudden and almost fervours emotion. "The Black Doom's not guarding her… I can get her back. Please take us down!!!"

-

* * *

"Anti-productive." Yellow Zelkova muttered, his metallic arms folded in front of himself as he and his fellow Metarex Commanders stood atop the cliff overlooking the remains of Paris. Unleashing their minions, the result of centuries worth of genetic manipulation, this world was being cleansed.

Dragons, Cerebus', Cyclops and Hydra's would soon purge this world of all life as was their intention.

"How so?" Pale Leaf Blue asked.

"The Golden Age is a restoration…"

"A cleansing." Black Narcissus corrected him. "Soon, the rest of the universe and all universes beyond it will follow this planet and be left clean."

"When Iblis emerges." Pale Leaf Blue pointed out.

"I care not for Black Doom's pet." Red Pine stated coldly. "We could do this task ourselves."

"But not as fast as Iblis." Pale Leaf told him. "We COULD demolish this universe ourselves but it would take our armies eons to do. Iblis could do in mere decades."

Without warning there was a sudden whooshing sound and the air behind them condensed slightly and wavered as if being seen through warm air.

"Is that all you can talk about now?" A voice asked. "Death and destruction?" The four commanders whirled around to face the new comer and they froze.

A dark figure stood there waiting for them. A man wrapped in a dark violet clock with a cowl that completely covered the face. From behind this cowl in the darkness of the face was a pair of glowing green eyes.

"You!" Yellow Zelkova almost spat, his hands clanking together loudly as he made a fist. "Finally you show yourself!" He moved forward, over emphasising each step as he broke the ground underfoot. "I've waited eons to break you in half, brother!"

Prometheus, the ancient Titan, who had stood guard over the Angel Wing for centuries sighed and shook his head.

"Atlas… my brother. Eons in Nexus have only made you more deranged. All of you, you are mere shades of the proud Seedrian empire you once stood for."

"Need I remind you that YOU are the one who betrayed Lord Cronos?" Pale Leaf Blue asked. "You and Rhea, you stood against yes and helped the traitor Zeus destroy our empire."

"Forgotten?" Prometheus asked. "Oh I have not forgotten. How could I? I stood over my greatest invention, the needle of time and watched those moments repeat over and over again.

And I have seen the future as well. What I have seen does not advance beyond this point but I know what happens now, in this instant."

He raised a hand forward, revealing cloven fingers with a bronze device strapped across the top of his hand with a black dial in the centre.

"You are no longer who you once where. The names, Altas, Oceanus, Hyperion and Helios don't mean anything more to you do they? They're simply words... you are now and forever more the damned Metarex."

It was then that Prometheus' voice gained an undercurrent of great sadness.

"And that is why it must end like this." With his outstretched hand he grabbed his cloak with a single motion he tossed it aside, revealing the body underneath.

A pair of angelic wings unfolded, spreading out with golden feathers that shone like sunlight.

The Metarex took a few steps back in alarm.

Prometheus like his father Iapetus and the Titaness Rhea was Immortal and as such had no aged in eons. He was as young and handsome as he had been when Zeus first defeated Cronos.

His hair was long like his fathers but a ginger brown instead of white. His body was covered in a strange bronze armour of his own design,

"This is your last chance, Atlas." Prometheus declared. His eyes were like those of Void's, completely coloured and shining like stars. "Our father has seen the light and been restored. So can you. All you have to do is reject Cronos and his lies and it's all over."

"Never!" Red Pine shouted. "None of us would dare betray the master."

"You go too far, Prometheus!" Pale Leaf blue added as Black Narcissus wielded his staff forward offensively.

Yellow Zelkova stood there silently, his single glass eyes glaring directly at Prometheus and Prometheus looked back without blinking.

"No." Zelkova stated, holding up an arm to stop Narcissus. "He is mine." The yellow Metarex stepped forward and the others moved back to give the larger of their number the room he needed to use his massive bulk to his advantage.

Prometheus held up the hand with the device attached and reached out as if to grab something. With a flash of light, he called forth a weapon, a weapon he had spent the last couple of thousand of years forging.

He had created the hammer Mjlonir centuries before and had had time to perfect his design and create another.

This one had a longer handle than the original and a far larger business end, the wide brunt engraved with silver runes.

Zelkova was not without his own weapon. He clasped his hands together with a loud metallic clank and with a blurred movement, he called forth a massive claymore blade was came into being from pieces of the yellow armour covering his arms. Clasping the hilt in both hands he moved forth.

It was immediately clear who had the weight and height advantage.

"Everyone has the ability to change their fate, Atlas." Prometheus told him. "I have looked into the visions from the Needle of time and I have seen you fall. If you fight me, you will die this day."

"I have sworn to fight for Lord Cronos until the death." Zelkova reminded him. "I would have thought you'd remember that. Now, if you're quite finished talking let's meet fate head on like men rather than cowards!"

Zelkova jabbed his sword forward but Prometheus spread his wings and soared up into the air avoiding the thrust and coming to the offensive he arched his back before his hammer came down sharply towards the metarex's head. Zelkova knew better than to block such a powerful attack and back stepped, avoiding the slam as it came down into the ground.

Zelkova lashed out with a kick to caught Prometheus across the chest knocking him back and using this to advantage the metarex grabbed the Seedrian by the waist in his giant hand and hefted him up into the air. He readied his blade to run Prometheus through but Prometheus was able to break free by kicking Zelkova directly in the glass eye. Blinded, Zelkova let go and Prometheus brought his hammer around with tremendous force striking the giant across the side.

The affect was like a solar flare, a blinding light erupting forth and the other Metarex had to cover their eyes.

When the light died down they looked up to see that Zelkova had received quite a bit of damage. His armour was cracked and compromising deep lines were running along his right arm.

Black Narcisus moved forward.

"No!" Zelkova shouted back. "I told you, he's mine!"

* * *

-

As Shadow glanced up towards Devil Dooms immense mass, he was afforded a moment of clarity. He knew what he had to do now. He knew how to defeat this monster once and for all.

It had been laid out for him… it had always been laid out for him.

Everything had, right from the start… but this path was not of Geralds design. No, it went far further than that and while he could not be sure why or how, the dark hedgehog knew what had to be done.

Shadow looked over at Maria, fixing her with a stare.

"I'll need your help." He told her solemnly. "I can't defeat him alone, I know that now."

"You needn't have to ask." She replied with a smile parting her lips.

"You'll need time to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds." Krish butted in, striding past them. With a twist he snapped his new wings out wide, stretching the bones until each one had reached their maximum length. "Time you don't have." He gestured up with a talon towards Devil Doom, who by now was displaying his powers in a furious display of destruction; hurling brilliant lightning bolts at the ships as they past by.

It was as if, in his transformed state, Devil Doom did not consider them a threat anymore.

"I'll give you that time." Krish continued on. "I'm not so arrogant now as to assume I can defeat him on my own… but if I can't slow him down even for a short while then that's going to be more of a blow to my ego than I'm willing to take."

He moved forward, tensing his legs for take off.

"You still haven't answered Tikal's question." Shadow reminded him. "Why are you helping us?"

"I thought I told you."

"I want the real answer, not that cock and bull story you gave me."

Krish looked back over his shoulder, keeping his doll like eyes fixed on the dark hedgehog who returned the stare.

"Its like I told you… the answer is quite simple." The demonic fesonian began after a moment of silence. "Perhaps more simple than you'd believe." He looked back up at Devil Doom. "I want to go home and that beast is in my way."

Without another word he took off, flapping his huge membranous wings hard as he soared up into the sky.

Metal Sonic watched him go; then he looked over towards Shadow.

"5 minutes." The Robotic hedgehog stated. "We'll keep him busy for five minutes."

"Is that a promise?" Shadow asked.

"No, that's how long my sensors tell me either Krish or myself will last against a power like this."

There was a loud roaring sound as the rockets on Metal Sonic's feet took affect, blasting him high into the air, flying after Krish as the two of them soared up towards the horrific eldritch mass.

Reaching the tip of Angel Wing, Devil Doom peered up towards the prize he sought; directly on the tip, protruding out was the Precious Stone. This was the relic that his father had been driven mad over and in turn had given him clarity and much power.

It would serve him well once more.

"Insect!" He scoffed, batting Silver the Hedgehog aside with each before snatching the pink gemstone up in his massive grasp.

Amy simple knelt there, her arms wrapped around herself as despair continued to consume her.

"Face me, you coward!" Krish screeched, flying in at a great speed before the monster could turn.

The destroyer latched himself onto the second head, sinking his talons deep into the flesh. Devil Doom tried to shake him off but the destroyer was now latched firmly on. The mutated fesonian hissed in anger, his eyes glowing blood red before he brought his wide tail back slamming its spikes down into the face below. The single eye was pierced with a stream of blood and fluid.

Devil doom screamed in pain, flying backwards lashing at the assailant with his long arms.

"Honour for my brother!" Krish declared and suddenly his body was in flames, the outline engulfed by green fire. Recognising the attack, Super Shadow flew backwards pulling Super Maria out of the way at the same time.

Screeching like a demon, Krish unleashed an inferno down directly into Devil Doom. The fiery ball of green fire engulfed the monstrosity completely and for a single instant it seemed like the two of them were a single green sun and just as bright.

Then that fire was quenched as Devil Doom called upon the power of the Precious Stone.

Instantly the fire was nullified and the injures Krish inflicted healed.

"You foolish boy!" Krish glanced up in alarm as the second had swung around to stare directly at him. The single eyes glowed brightly before the insect like mouth opened. "Let me show you true hell fire!"

A torrent of fire hotter than any inferno Krish could conjure shot forth. Krish had just enough time to move his wings in the way as a shield as it struck him full on.

Metal Sonic fired several rounds, striking Devil Doom across the side before he flew in close; compartments on the royal blue metallic body opening up. It took only seconds for the particles to charge before he discharged them in an explosive ball, firing it directly at the monster's eye.

It stuck but the eye did not explode as Metal Sonic had hoped. Instead it bled for a moment and all Devil Doom did was screech, before a large arm whirled around and swatted the robotic hedgehog away like a fly.

Metal Sonic was able to recover from his spiral and came flying back, flying in as close as he dared; firing close range missiles that sent a series of explosions across the side of the horrific mass below the waste.

"You small, insignificant collection of brass and nickel!" Devil Doom snarled. "I will not be stopped by Shadow… nor by Krish and definitely not you!"

The Pink gemstone in his grasp flashed brightly as he called on its power and before Metal Sonic knew what was happening, Devil Doom vanished in an instant. The monster simply disappeared, leaving only empty space.

A moment later, the robotic hedgehog registered a huge increase of physical mass directly above him but his body moved too slow to prevent a torrent of fire hotter than the surface of the sun blasting himself.

The blast tore his left arm off and scorched away the nano-bots as they retried to reform the limb. The blow that came next shattered the body, sending the plummeting Metal Sonic falling back towards the Miracle Planet.

As he fell, Shadow and Maria used Chaos Control to teleport to the top of Angel Wing. Here were the items they needed, the even of them lying forgotten here now that the Titan's purpose for them had been served.

Even with their presence, Amy ignored them as she plunged deeper and deeper into despair.

"I have a target lock." Chuck stated, onboard the Blue Typhoon as the ship led the charge from Earth against the monster and the armies of horrors spewing forth.

Sitting in the captain's seat, Lt. Milford who had taken command pointed a finger forward.

"Fire!" He declared and the ships entire forward arsenal rocketed forward, blasting Devil Doom with everything it had.

The stuck the monster but had no affect as it drew its membranous wings to shield itself.

"We've been through worse than a poor mans Cthulhu." Milford said. "Fire again!"

Distracted by the Blue Typhoon and its escort ships, Devil Doom was too slow to notice Krish.

The destroyer, despite having intense burn marks all over his skin, few down directly from above.

That was Devil Doom's one weak point.

Directly in the middle of his back where neither head could reach despite the lashing of arms, wings and teeth. Sinking his talons in as deep as they could go; Krish flooded the horrific body beneath him with fire. It wasn't enough to do any serious damage, not with the Precious Stone giving Devil Doom his power, but it was enough to hold him in place.

"Get off me you insignificant worm!" Devil Doom snarled, reaching back in his attempt to tear the demonic fesonian off him. "Agggh!" He screeched as the ships bombarded him again and this time he was not able to defend himself.

Krish however was wounded and knew that he could not keep this up for long. As his strength waned, he felt a presence around him… a presence he knew all too well for he had met this presence in battle before.

Her power joined with his. It flowed into him and made him strong so instead of being torn away, Krish held strong.

"You brought this on yourself brother." He found himself saying in a different voice.

"Rhea?" Devil Doom started. "Let me go!"

"No Cronos." She replied. "This is something that has to be done." Devil Doom struggled in their combined grip but was powerless to move.

Devil Doom glanced forth and realized finally what they were trying to do. The Ark, with its massive Eclipse Cannon pointed directly at him had moved into an offensive position.

Slowly its flower like cannon began to open, the deadly point jabbed at him like the icy finger of death.

In the central core of the colony, Shadow and Maria stood side by side, both in their super forms; using the energy of the Chaos Emeralds to supercharge the cannon. Tikal looked on from nearby, her eyes alight with tears of new hope.

"Our father was a madman… a power crazed fool. Yet you follow the same path he did… and look at you. You've become the opposite of all you once stood for." Rhea continued, speaking through Krish. "I'm sorry brother… more than you could ever know.

For what its worth… no matter what you've done or may do… or even what you become… I will always love you."

The cannon sparked with an unearthly green aura as it reached critical mass and the entire colony became a blinking star.

"Goodbye." Rhea muttered and back on Earth, she closed her eyes and wept.

With a boom that shattered every pane of glass on Earth the Eclipse Cannon fired.

Like an aurora spreading across the heavens the laser crashed forward, spearheading its way through space towards the Miracle Planet and the gate.

"NO!" Devil Doom cried out, all three eyes widening out. He threw his wings in the way to try and block it but by then it was too late. "I'll not die here… I have the Precious Stone… I have the…"

Even before he'd finished his sentence, something teleported to his side appearing there in a spray of blackness.

It was Mephiles.

"What are you doing?" Devil Doom demanded in utter alarm.

"Returning this to its rightful owner… Solaris." Mephiles remarked and with one sharp tug, he tore the Precious Stone out of the monster's hand; blood and ripped veins trailing after it, the bones shaping and flying off. "So long Cronos, Say hello to oblivion for me."

At the very last Second, Krish let go and flung himself with two massively powerfully beats of his new wings out of the way. Devil Doom, with his massive clumsy bulk, could not move so quickly so when the Eclipse Cannon came rocketing down at him he could not avoid it.

It struck him head on; forcing him back further and further towards the Miracle planet until finally he was thrown through the gate and into the jaws of Iblis.


	71. Episode 36, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

Episode 36: The begining of the Endgame

* * *

Firing directly into the gate, the beam of destructive power burned away the spires and did tremendous damage to the structure of the monstrous opening. The slaves had been able to run a safe distance from the structure but the shockwave when the beam hit was enough to knock them all over their feet.

Vector refused to let go of Vanilla, cushioning her fall with his own body.

"Man oh man, that's intense!" Beck declared, helping Rei back to his feet.

Suddenly, the Fesonian Confederates guards all started screaming. Their cries of pain were intense as they clutched their arms. Their marks, given to them by Black Doom were all burning; glowing an intense white. Slowly the marks began fading away, disappearing before leaving a nasty scar.

Devil Doom had been destroyed even before his smouldering caracoled remains started falling almost like snow across the Miracle Planet and now that he was dead, the affects of the marks were being negated.

"Master!" Black Narcissus declared, taking a step forward but froze when he realised it was too late.

All the Metarex commanders looked back in utter alarm, realizing that their master had been killed.

"It… it's impossible!" Red Pine started. "No! It can not be."

Prometheus lowered his hammer and looked up at the spectacle as the black ash slowly filtered down.

Yellow Zelkova had been defeated. His arms badly damaged and his metal frame unable to bear his weight. He was on one knee and it did not look like he was going to be able to get back up.

Shadow collapsed down to one knee, sweat pouring off his entire body. It dripped slowly off his quills to form a small puddle on the floor of the colony's core. The Emeralds around him fell to the floor, their power almost exhausted.

In order to put out enough power to destroy Devil Doom, he had had to put forth the maximum amount of energy he, Maria and even the Emeralds could give.

She was collapsed beside him, similarly drained and fatigued.

But it was done.

This perverse tragedy had been brought to an end.

Just as that happy thought surfaced in his mind, someone called out.

He only just managed to register Tikal's warning when suddenly, bursting through the side of the concrete and metal wall that formed the wall of the colony's core came a deformed monster. One of Black Doom's Cyclops, his mutants from Nexus. A foul deformed monstrosity of pure muscle. 

The beast was over ten times their size and judging from the gaping hole it had just smashed it's physical strength was certain superior to theirs.

Its dark brown single eye rotated in his rocket until it found the two exhausted Hedgehog's. The beast roared and carrying his club, he charged right at them.

Shadow was too weak to even get back up, too drained to defend himself as the titan bellowed loudly and raised the massive bone club it was wielding.

Before the death blow could come, something smashed itself into the cyclop's face, forcing it to stagger back.

The beast grunted, apparently too stupid to form words and glanced back, looking annoyed that it had been deprived of a meal.

Standing between in the two hedgehog's defence was Knuckles.

"You know… I'm really not having a good time lately." He muttered, flexing his arms as Rouge limped alongside Tikal to watch. "In fact, it's been a real bad day for me so far. I really need to vent some frustration." The red echidna glanced up towards the monstrous thing as it snapped his jaw bone back into place. "You know, you might do just nicely."

* * *

-

Krish's wings were badly damaged. The bones were shattered and the membrane had been torn in several places. It would be a while before he was going to be able to fly again. Grunting loudly, he recalled the limbs back into his body; sliding the bony plates back over his shoulders. They'd heal but for the moment he was grounded.

With a degree of effort he hoisted himself back up, dripping blood and sweat.

Well, that was that. Black Doom was dead and with him, his insane plans. Still, the danger was not yet over.

The Gate was still open and as long as it was, Iblis could emerge from it and destroy them all.

Krish had not gone to the trouble of reorganising his resurrection simply to die here. He would not risk his new existence after so long.

Unfortunately, between him and the gate were hundreds of monsters, twisted Metarex titan monstrosities from Nexus.

There was a strange sense of dislocation here and Krish managed a grin. Was he not one of them? A creature twisted by years of imprisonment in that hellish place?

That said, he felt no kinship with them.

Despite everything that had changed him, he was still Fesonian and proud to be so.

He was the Destroyer.

He was Krish.

He was the rightful ruler of Feson itself.

Perhaps he had forgotten that for a long time but rekindled memories now gave him strength and identity, beyond the monster everyone thought he was.

The cyclops, Cerberus' and Hydras hissed and spat like idiots as he approached. In response he simply held up a hand, calling forth a ball of intense green fire.

"So then, which one of you wants to die first?"

-

* * *

"I'm so sorry, brother." Prometheus stated with tears coming into his eyes and he hefted his weapon high into the air. Unable to even move, all Zelkova could do was sit there and watch as the arms holding the hammer tensed.

Suddenly Prometheus felt extra weight on his hammer and glancing back he saw that someone had grabbed a hold of it from behind.

"That's enough, son."

Prometheus blinked and then let his hammer drop to his side at the sight of his father, the Titan Seedrian Iapetus.

"Fa... father?"

Iapetus was covered in battle scars from his fight with Mephiles, his robes and hair matted brown with dried blood. His wings were missing important feathers in places and the wound in his side was turning into a nasty, permanent scar.

"Yes it's me." Iapetus remarked. "The Dark Oak is no more." He stepped past the stunned Prometheus and knelt down, looking directly into Zelkova's single cracked glass eye. "Atlas, my son."

"You are a traitor." Zelkova spat. "I am ashamed of you."

"You… you must die!" The other Metarex concerned passionately.

"He is beyond redemption father." Prometheus stated. "They all are. This must be done. I have seen it in the Needle. This is fate."

Iaptus just laughed.

"Centuries standing over the needle and you STILL don't understand the nature of destiny, Prometheus?" He shook his head. "A shame." Gently Iaptus laid a hand across his heart. "Atlas my son, I have a gift for you… the same gift that the Zeus gave me through the Chaos Emeralds. I have enough left of it within me for you." Slowly he reached out with the same hand towards Zelkova, revealing that now it had a faint white outline; a soft but powerful glow. "All you have to do is accept it."

"Father, what are you doing?" Prometheus asked.

"I will take nothing from you!" Zelkova was quite adamant, despite having no arms left.

Iapetus smiled.

"Why, Atlas. I hadn't realised that Nexus had had this affect on you. I know first hand how warping it can be… but never once did I imagine it would make you into a coward."

Zelkova stared back definitely.

"You dare to call me a coward, you deserter?!"

Iapetus ignored the remark and held up his hand.

"You're still a frightened child underneath that armour, scared and hurt. All you've ever known for centuries has been Cronos' insanity. When you look at this all you see is the unknown and it terrifies you.

"This is my gift to all of you." Iapetus continued. "An end to the pain."

His outstretched hand glowed intently white for a single instant before the light discharged through the four Metarex like a wave.

"Wha…" Zelkova began but froze, unable to speak. He began shaking, as if gripped in a seizure; trembling rapid and fast. Parts of his golden metal armour began flaking of in response, small fragments at first followed by larger pieces that fell off with a loud clank as they hit the ground.

The hideous mass underneath was exposed, a palpating mass that slowly began morphing even while still encased in the armour. The scars and twisted flesh began to smooth, arms forming and fair skin coming forth.

More of the armour broke away and a pair of wings pushed themselves out through the back, spreading out as golden feathers began to sprout.

There was a flash of light and the entire suit of armour broke open, the pieces flying off in different directions.

Yellow Zelkova was gone and the Titan Atlas stood in his place, restored.

"I…" Atlas started, raising his hands and looking down at his hands. Atlas had green hair and bright blue eyes, taking only a passing resemblance to either his father or his brother. "This can't be…"

The other Metarex commanders just stared in amazement.

"This is inconvincible…" Pale Leaf Blue eventually said, finding his voice. "I had never thought restoration of our bodies was possible."

"It is Zeus' gift to me… to all of us." Iapetus added. "All you need to do is accept it."

There was another moment of prolonged silence.

Red Pine took a step forward.

"Black Narcissus about faced and stared him down.

"How dare you even think of believing this traitor?!" He snapped in venom in his voice. "Have you no loyalty?"

"To what?" Red Pine demanded in return. "Cronos is dead and with him, his dream."

"You…" Black Narcissus faced him completely, whipping his staff around. "Was our lord surrounded by traitors?"

"Do you not wish to be restored as well, you have your wings given back to you?" Red Pine asked. "Or has all memory of what we once were faded from your memory, Hyperion?" Using his real name, Red Pine froze Black Narcissus in his tracks and in that moment he looked over at Iapetus. "Yes, old friend I will accept Zeus' gift."

Anger surging through him, Black Narcissus raised his stuff and swung it down; the razor edge of the mirror intended to decapitate Red Pine.

At the last second, the mirror was blocked as Pale Leaf Blue got in the way and parried it away.

"I have not been in Nexus long enough to loose my one defining element." Pale Leaf stated. "I am logical, first and foremost. I find logic in this… is restoration."

"And what will be your decision?" Prometheus asked him. "Trapped forever in that metal shell while the rest of our race is restored to what we were before, taken back to the light. Will you be alone?"

"A…" Black Narcissus began, freezing still. "Alone?"

Alone… eternal emptiness and darkness. Just like Nexus, that cold pit; all alone in that place.

It was only with companions there, to make the void bearable that he had been able to survive.

The very idea of existing in any state without someone else there, another presence, was frightening on a near incomprehensible level.

"No… no…" He dropped his staff and when it hit the floor the mirror shattered. "No, anything but that!"

The void… the darkness…. That was what it meant to be alone.

To suffer there, in silence for eternity.

Pride, loyalty and obedience to ones master meant nothing when faced with that all encompassing abyss.

"Then take my hand." Iapetus offered it forward. "All of you; take my hand now."

They did so, some willingly and others out of fear but as soon as they outstretched their hands the miracle began.

Armour fell away, pieces by piece before with a single last the last of the Titan's were stored to themselves.

Hyperion, Lord of the Wind

Helios, Lord of Light

Oceanus, Lord of the Sea.

Atlas, Lord of the Earth stood up and looked around at them, amazed to se the Titan's by whom he had once stood reunited in pure form once more.

"I… I understand now." Helios, who had been Red Pine, stated as his golden wings spread out. "We were lost, in madness."

"Cronos led us there and we followed, blindly." Oceanus added, freed from his former personality as Pale Leaf Blue.

"And we never questioned. Not once." Black Narcissus was gone and Hyperion had been restored and was ashamed.

Iapetus put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's over now." He told them all. "We can all start again."

"Not yet, we can't." Prometheus stated, turning his attention towards the gate. Despite the assault by the Eclipse Cannon and the death of Black Doom, it was still open.

-

* * *

Floating, an endless abyss…utter darkness.

"Oh no, you've not crossed that threshold quite yet."

Sonic gasped out load as he felt sensation flood back into the void of darkness. Sight, sound and touch returned in that single instant and the pain came with it.

The first sight his eyes met with were the feral, emerald green eyes of the being that had torn the life from him just an hour ago now.

A cold, hard spiky hand slapped itself twice across Sonic's face and the pain responded; confirming the notion inside the blue hedgehog's mind that he wasn't dead.

"I…I'm not…" He began in a horse voice. Mephiles backed off several steps, allowing Sonic to look down at his chest. The wound that had been torn through it was gone and all that remains was a scar, a highlight of white underneath the blue and tan fur.

"No. You're not dead. I simply made it look like you where." Mephiles stated, turning his back. "Princess Elise was too juvenile to understand how her connection to the Angel Wing worked… so I needed her to cry. She was emotionally dependant on you. So you had to have an unfortunate accident in order to get her worked up."

Sonic tried to move but found his arms and legs restrained. Glancing up, he saw that his hands were shackled to two pieces of jagged dark rock. His ankles were the same, fastened there by massive iron chains that he could not budge.

He was weak, barely able to keep himself conscious so recently after what from his perspective was a miraculous revival so all he could do was hang there in chains unable to move.

"I don't get it." He muttered. "I saw you…I felt it, my heart it… it stopped beating."

Mephiles laughed.

"And it did." He replied, looking back over his shoulder. "For a whole hour you were dead and even I don't have the power to restore the dead."

Sonic took a few deep breaths, trying to regain some strength.

"Then… then how?"

Mephiles stepped aside to reveal the giant, pink crystal that was lodged in the dark ground before him. The Precious Stone, stolen from Maginaryworld at the expense of that reality itself, used by Devil Doom only a few minutes ago and now it was here; perched on a dark ledge of rock overlooking the swirling vortex of the gate.

The jewel was still glowing with power, power that Sonic had never known this fragment of stone to have. It could restore life? Even the Chaos Emerald paled in comparison. No wonder the Seedrian people defended the jewel as much as they could.

"You don't know what this truly is, do you?" Mephiles asked, tapping the side of the jewel. "What its true significance is?" The sadistic delight in his eyes only intensified at the clear confusion on Sonic's face. "You know of Solaris, the god of time?

Eons ago after he created causality, he separated into two halves, his two aspects; that of Creation and Destruction.

The Destruction became Iblis who by now should be on his way.

The Creation is the Jewel in front of you. It was this jewel at the Titan Oranous found eons ago, that drove him mad and set in motion the events that toppled the Ancient Seedrian civilisation."

Leaving Sonic to digest that, Mephiles marched to the edge of the chasm and looked out. The Gate hung directly below them and above in the sky of the Miracle Planet, they could see the combined fleets of the Eggman Empire, G.U.N, Imperial Guard and Combined Federation battling with the Titanic monsters that had already come through the porthole from Nexus.

"Hmm, they've almost won." The crystalline hedgehog commented. "It certainly cost them a few ships but Black Doom's invasion is beaten. His Metarex armies are smashed and Black Doom himself is dead. All they need to do finish off those monsters."

"Then... then you've lost." Sonic muttered.

Mephiles tilted his head back and laughed, letting his sadistic roar fill out over the rocky crevice. He crossed his arms and turned back to face the captive blue hedgehog.

"Are you that stupid as to believe that I care for one moment what happens to Black Doom's ambitions?" He swung around to gesture to the Precious Stone and the swirling gate to Nexus behind it. "This… this outcome is all I really wanted! The Gate Open and the Precious Stone in my grasp."

"I don't…" Sonic started. "I don't understand. If you didn't want the gate open to help Black Doom then why did you help him?"

"Because his interests mirrored mine, for a short while." Mephiles replied. "After he'd opened the gate for me his fate was inconsequential." He jabbed a crystalline finger down towards the vortex. "Iblis is freed from Tatarus, the fires of Jahannam and now he comes and as soon as he emerges; the ultimate power of Solaris himself will be mine!"

"Who…What are you?"

Mephiles ignored them and looked down into the gate. The green vortex was beginning to change, to slowly burn orange.

"You see… even while Iblis was free in the time from which I came, the Precious Stone had been lost; destroyed along with Black Doom when Shadow fired the Eclipse cannon.

Without that I could not merge with the devourer and become Solaris.

So I had to devise a way to release Iblis in the past while the Precious Stone was within my reach. Of course, Silver's desire to prevent Iblis' emergance played right into my hands.

Being the aspect of the future, destined to meet upon the start of Ragnarok, I fed him and his teacher the irreplaceable Blaze false information; information that labelled the Iblis Trigger was the cause of the disaster rather than the being the one chosen, the catalyst of change.

Once all three champions were assembled, Silver, Shadow and youself, the gates would open and Iblis would be freed.

I can emerge from the back of your head after being captive for so long and bathed in Iblis' power I remade the vassal into…"

"You… you're Dark Super Sonic!" The blue hedgehog declared cutting him off, horror and terrified realisation suddenly washing over his face like a tidal wave.

Mephiles grinned from ear to ear and raised a hand. He waved it over his face and instantly the crystal melted, as if becoming water. It drained away, revealing the face underneath.

Sonic just stared in abject horror.

It was his own face, a mirror image. Every detail the same. Only the eyes were different, a far darker shade of green.

"Big fat surprise, Sonic!" He laughed. "I am what you will become. You already know how history works; you saw it when you went back in time to the age of the Echidna's. The future is written, immutable fixed.

Your destiny is to become me!" He put his face within spitting distance of Sonic's. "And there's not a thing you can do about it!"

-

* * *

Down at the centre of the gate Miles shoved the last remaining Titan guard aside, withdrawing his sabre from the cut flesh before marching past without even waiting for the beast to fall down.

Before him was the control centre, the nexus control point for the gate. None of the cryptic and engraved machines around caught his attention.

His eyes were at once drawn to the figure strapped to the machine in the centre.

"Cosmo…" He breathed, racing up to her. She hung there as if crucified, her stare vacant and eyes completely white. His arms attached to a long horizontal shaft by large blackened manacles. Feeding into her skin were red vines, almost like veins. It was almost as if the gate was feeding off of her.

Miles gazed up at her in intense emotion . Cosmo had changed. She body was far more feminine in shape and she was a great deal taller. Her green leaf like hair spread out past her shoulders and the dubs on each side of her head had blossomed. Now they were flowers, spread out into beautiful rose like petals. Fearing the worst, Miles sliced through her bounds and she fell lifelessly down to the floor. The veins could not hold her weight and snapped

Miles did not even register that despite disconnecting her from the dark gate it did not close.

"Cosmo?" He repeated, holding her in his arms. "Cosmo… please answer me…" She didn't. She felt cold.

No… he thought. Not after all this time….

Without warning the ground beneath his feet started shaking.

Miles looked up as energies within the gate churned and boiled, the green now replaced completely by orange.

There was a blast of intense heat, almost like being near the rim of an erupting volcano. In that darkening vortex, he could see a terrifying shape begin to form as whatever it was approached the gate from the other side.

Even though he could not make out distinctions, Miles knew it was the devourer… Iblis.

"Tails…" A week voice began and the young fox looked down, tears stinging his eyes as Cosmo took a short breath. "I…I'm sorry. I couldn't stop them."

"Don't." He told her, holding her close and refusing to let go. "Don't say anything."

* * *

-

Sonic cried out in pain, struggling as hard as he could as whatever evil power began to work around him. Crystals were forming slowly over his skin, and the rock to which he was starting to encroach around his body.

He gagged, feeling the utter feeling of intrusion as the dark stone and crystals slid up his body; coating his legs.

It was more than just a physical feeling. It was as if his sprit was being twisted, warped and bent until it would form whatever the process wanted it to take.

He tried to resist, to deny its process but whatever defence he tried to enact in his mind the force washed over.

"There's no point in fighting it." Mephiles assured him with a smug grin. "This is the power of Iblis at work here. You're being changed by a primordial force and you can't match willpower with that.

Besides… this is your destiny. Accept it and it'll be far less painful."

"But…but why?" Sonic gagged out. "If you're me... then why..."

Mephiles grinned.

"Why?" He repeated. "Is it not painfully obvious?" Sonic struggled to move but the corruption slowly taking hold of his body was stiffening his muscles.

"As a part of you my existence prior to sentience was spent being the hero, saving some ungrateful fool from this or that. Oh yes… I've been alive inside you ever since you were first born.

I've seen everything you've seen. Felt everything you've felt.

I've weighed up the efforts you've made to save this universe… no… reality from, lets face it, itself against what you received in return.

Do you know what I've concluded?"

He stepped closer and looked Sonic in the eye.

"It wasn't worth it Sonic." He stated. "Every time you helped to end a war or stop some bad guy another simply came along to take their place.

What was the point? Honestly what did you hope to accomplish? That perhaps by setting an example you could teach these fools something?

You idiot! All sentient races have had many thousands of opportunities to sort out their differences and failed each time.

I don't blame them however … it's not their fault. Its existence that's the problem! Over and over… that damned balance of powers. Wars, disease, death, corruption, horrors and terror… it all exists to keep a check on mortals.

Its existence that's the problem and its existence that has to go."

"You… you're insane!"

Mephiles laughed again and spun around to face the gate.

"Once the transformation is complete, you'll be sent to the future to ensure the causality of that timeline.

I will be left free to use the Precious Stone to merge with Iblis, becoming the great Solaris myself."

Mephiles let his head tilt back and his puzzle spread apart revealing jagged teeth.

"This chaos will finally end. All existence and even time itself will be nullified and all will know the sweet serenity of oblivion! Now Sonic… rise in your new un-life!"

There was nothing Sonic could do stop it.

It was like a mind numbing cold that was infecting him, travelling down into his very soul and corrupting the very core that was himself.


	72. Episode 36, part 2

When the Eggman Empire and its Imperial Fesonian allies arrived around Earth, the battle had almost been won and the legions of monsters from Nexus were on the verge of defeat. With the added muscle the Imperial ships were able to deliver it wasn't long before Earth had been made safe again, with the acceptation of the near indestructible angel Wing and open Divine Gate.

"Begin transformation sequence." Eggman announced, pressing a few buttons on the end of his chair.

The Egg Factory came to a stop as its engines stuttered out and then retracted back inside the body of the machine as the parts of the structure swung out. First the arms formed, with giant mechanical hands sprouting forth.

The legs came then, the main body coating itself in armour. The Egg Carrier, a separate ship, docked with the transformed body and it transformed as well; becoming the massive head of the Imperial Egg Guardian.

"Emperor Baal, set up a perimeter while I deal with the Gate." The Doctor told his ally over the communication. "I'll have it brought down in a few minutes."

A second hologram appeared alongside the Fesonians.

"Not without me you won't." It was Okida, his Diablon mech flying through space with its golden wings spread. Darting up the back of the Egg Guardian, it did a flip over the top before landing softly on the top of the forehead.

It hadn't taken the major long to recover from the affects of Krish's short term possession of his body but he was still finding it hard to concentrate, to form thoughts as quickly as he should. Piloting the Diablon required a great deal of mental process and he was relying a great deal on Topaz to help him cope with the burden.

"You shouldn't be doing this so soon." She warned him.

"I know." He replied. "And I'll take a nice vacation as soon as we're done."

* * *

-

By now the rock and crystals had almost completely covered Sonic's body and the jagged edged were cutting their way up across his face. It felt like dying, inside and out and Sonic could feel slowly, the dark part of him, that he had surpressed for years coming to life. All the negativity, all the hate and rage, anger and frustration; everything that made Mephiles up was coming to the surface.

For the moment he could still formulate ideas under his one personality but that time was nearly at an end.

"History can't be changed Sonic, it stays fixed on a course unalterable even by those using time travel." Mephiles was stating with his back to the blue hedgehog. "Silver was naïve to think over wise, precisely what I was counting on. There is no power that can change this. We are bound by rules of destiny that prevent such alteration."

He reached out and tapped the Precious Stone.

"No power… accept one. The time god, the being that set those rules in play in the first place. It'll be glorious… so wonderfully glorious. Time itself, the very affect of linear causality, made into a meal!"

Sonic grasped out one final time as the rock reached his mouth.

"Goodbye Sonic, it's almost a shame your personality has to die this way… but you know… needs must."

With that Mephiles looked down at the gate and awaited the arrival of Iblis, leaving Sonic to his fate.

The blue hedgehog couldn't hold on any more. He could feel himself slipping away and no matter how much he wanted to fight, he couldn't.

Gripped by utter despair, he fell into darkness.

It was numbing, like being surrounded by icy cold water. It was total darkness, an abyss of emptiness.

It was cold, empty and alone.

"This is not your time." A small voice in the void spoke out. "You must fight." Peering out into that darkness, Sonic gazed upon a familiar figure.

It was a white hedgehog, with long quills and a translucent almost divine shine.

"Nazo… is that you?"

Nazo, the being that he and Shadow became when they merged their bodies floated before him, absent for nearly half a decade now was before him. Somehow, he was there, the only source of light in this abyss of total black.

The white hedgehog shrugged.

"In a sense." He replied. "It's hard to define. I expect what you're seeing now is what you expect me to look like, a mere compositional form of both you and Shadow. I've grown beyond this now." He spread his arms. "Let's see if I can't show you as I truly am."

Nazo's hedgehog body began to dissolve, becoming one with the light surrounding him. His basic shape seemed to be morphing, changing form as it grew slightly larger. A pair of feathered wings protruded from the back, replacing the spines and the quills turned into hair.

When the light disappeared, Sonic started forth at this new form and a realization came to him.

"You… I've seen you." He gasped. "You're Zeus."

The Creator of the Chaos Emeralds and Sol Emeralds, the forger that made the Master Emerald and the being who had defeated Black Doom and resealed Iblis back in Tartarus eons ago, an ancient Seedrian who had died uncountable centuries before the present day.

This could not be the same being that was Nazo.

"I am, was, is, Nazo." Zeus began as if sensing the unspoken question. "I was given only fleeting moments of existence when you and Shadow combined your bodies and fought together as one.

But it wasn't until the three of you…Shadow, Silver and yourself; met above my creations the Chaos Emeralds that I was restored to my true form and state of mind.

A part of me was trapped within all of you and when those pieces came together, I was whole again."

"Then…" Sonic started grasping the concept. "Then whenever Shadow and I became Nazo… it wasn't our combined power we wielded… it was yours."

Zeus nodded.

"That is correct. This was why your enemies wanted you alive. Only my power could make the Emeralds, the Angel Wing and the descendants of Prometheus and myself do what they wanted to."

"I could… I could certainly… use that power now." Sonic grimaced, feeling more and more of himself slip away, consuming by the darkness.

"You don't need it." Zeus replied with a small smile. "At your finger tips, you have access to a power that can snap fate itself like a twig. All you have to do is reach out and take it, change your destiny."

Power? Sonic wondered? What power? There was no power for him to use. He was weak, without support and more of his own strength was been leeched away.

"Sonic, listen to me! Zeus added, this time more urgently. "You can break this cycle! You can stop this right here and now, prevent the horror that is Mephiles from befalling you. I can't do it for you, only you can change your destiny. Only you, the Iblis Trigger. The catalyst of change."

Something in those words rang a bell, as if he'd heard them before but Sonic's mind was too blurred by now to form coherent thought.

"It… its no good." He breathed. "Its destiny… I can't fight…"

Zeus reached and grasped him by the hand.

"Yes, yes you can!" He placed the other hand on the blue hedgehog's shoulder. "Sonic, listen to me, the rules that Solaris put in place are unbreakable but they can be bent. The key is the dual powers of Chaos and Order… do you understand?"

Sonic just looked up at him bleakly.

"I can't do this for you. I've laid the ground work but you have to figure the finale out yourself!"

Something… some instinctive part of his being told him that he could not give in, that he had to keep going.

The feeling of unfinished work nagged at him, growing stronger and stronger.

Pushing an eye open he looked up at Zeus and in that single moment he realized what it was the Olympian had been talking about.

Unfinished work! That was what this had all been about…Chaos Emeralds…Sol Emeralds…Master Emeralds…mere fragments of power, elements of an incomplete project.

"Yes, yes… you understand!" Zeus declared in glee with a wide smile. "This is what you were born for Sonic, this is your true destiny. Now reject Mephiles and stand up!"

It was not that simple.

Something was keeping Sonic back.

It wasn't Mephiles' corruption but something else, something that was far more engrained.

That path he had to take, it required too much in the way of an emotional commitment…

"Sonic, don't falter now. You can do this!" Zeus told him. "But you can't hold back, to merge the emeralds you have to be completely committed. No emotions must weigh down on you. Whatever it is that's causing doubt, you have to let it go."

Sonic shook his head limply.

"I can't." He managed to mutter.

"Why?" Zeus asked again, leaning close.

"Because it would mean admitting it." Sonic pushed his eyes open a little more. "Admitting it, not only to myself but to her as well."

Zeus paused and then smiled. Gently he laid a hand on Sonic's shoulder.

"Then do so."

Collapsed into a puddle of despair on the top of the Angel Wing, Amy rose knelt there crying; clutching the sobbing child Elise to herself. All she knew was despair as in her mind, the death of the man she loved played over and over again.

"Huh?" Silver the Hedgehog began, looking up in surprise. "What's that?"

Amy only glanced half up before something, like a faint wind whispered in her ear using a voice she knew very well.

"I love you too, Amy Rose."

Blinking thick tears she looked up.

"Sonic?"

Feeling sudden and unexpected power building up, Mephiles glanced back and the moment he did so was knocked clear off his feet by a powerful shockwave. It tossed him through the air before dropping him dangerously close to the edge of the drop into the gate itself.

Catching the edge of the abyss with his claws, he pulled his elbows back over the top.

"What is this?!" He demanded, looking up in sheer alarm as Sonic's body began to emit light. The crystal and rock that had been growing over his body began to crack, shattering in places before it all exploded; flying off in several directions at once.

Breaking the chains that held him, Sonic dropped down to the floor in a half crouch before standing up.

His outline was emitting a light so powerful he was like a star.

"Power reading, off the damn scale!" Bokkun reported over the monitor as the Egg Guardian swung across the brow of the Egg Moon to get a clear shot of the Miracle Planet. The gate was visible from here but its sickly green glow was being blotted out by a powerful light source, a golden ball that was steadily growing.

"I can't analysis it Doctor, it's too powerful; the equipment is shorting out!" Decoe added as his panel began sparking with power, unable to handle registering that much power.

"How on?" The crystalline hedgehog demanded as parts of Sonic stood there, aglow in light; his fur slowly changing from blue to yellow.

The ground beneath their feet began shaking and the air pulsating as if being burned. A horribly strong gust of wind rocketed out in all directions and Mephiles had to dig his feet into the ground to stop himself from being blown away.

Parts of the gate's surface were cracking like an egg shell and soon the compromises were corroding the gate almost completely.

Everyone fighting, even the Metarex Titans had to stop and stare up as the giant ball of pure light kept expanding and expanding across the width of the gate itself.

Sparks of blue lightning sparks out from the centre of this nova, spreading out in all directions across the depths of the universe and beyond. 

Down on the planet's surface, windows and television screens began shattering one after the other. The sky was alive with light, the clouds dissipating in an instant leaving the entire planet devoid of cover. The winds suddenly engulfing the cloud chucked typhoons against the battering coastline and waterspouts spiralled all over the Earth.

"It's him!" Miles proclaimed with a sudden grin crossing his face as he clutched Cosmo close to himself. "He's back!"

"Unbelievable…" Krish gasped, dropping the battered body of a Cerebrus down.

Across the galaxy from Confederation territory to planets ruled by the Combine Federation, everyone felt the tremendous effects. Planets were shaking and nebula's were glowing as if in response.

Mephiles stood there and watched the hedgehog's eyes changed from green to red.

"Changing… WITHOUT the Chaos Emeralds?" He breathed in utter amazement. "How?! It's not possible!"

Super Sonic kept going however, his power reaching new heights never before imagined. Slowly at first, his quills began to lengthen and grow thin; spreading down behind his back and stopping near his tail.

"What the hell is going on?" Rouge asked, watching as parts of the Ark's structure around them began to spark, crack and bend. Whipping around Knuckles stared up at the source of the source of the tremendous change and after a moment he knew.

"It's Sonic!!!" He yelled in triumph.

"He's alive…" Amy breathed with sudden hope and joy coming into her eyes. "He's alive!!!!"

Sonic's body seemed to grow a little taller, the legs and arms lengthening; his entire form becoming completely streamlined.

Even as he changed, Super Sonic held his arms up with his palms facing the black of space above.

In a flash of light, he called the Chaos Emeralds to him. Each one of the seven jewels tore themselves out of their confines within the Ark, flying through space until they circled Super Sonic as if in orbit.

Down on Earth, the Master Emerald left its shrine on the floating Island of the Echidna's and flew up into space and within an instant had joined in seven fellows.

"Summoning the Emeralds?!" Mephiles stated in alarm. "This can't be happening!"

"I'm not finished yet." The golden hedgehog replied with a superior smirk parting his lips.

With a slight gesture, he called forth what he knew now to be the second half of the equation. The Sol Emeralds, kept safe in Blaze's hands were torn from her grasp and like the Chaos Emeralds before them came into Super Sonic's possession; flying around him.

Grasping his hands together, Super Sonic called the emeralds together and each set flew towards its polar opposite until they collided.

There was a brilliant light, a nova flare unlike anything seen before; a light that engulfed the entire planet and most of the solar system.

Reality itself rippled like waves in a pound as the intent of Zeus was finally carried out.

When the flare died down, Mephiles looked up to see that floating around Super Sonic in place of those dozens of Emeralds were now a single set of seven.

They looked like Chaos Emeralds but where over three times larger and were emitting far too much power to be merely enlarged versions. They glowed like a star and their mere presence was causing parts of Mephiles' armour to crack.

"Like them?" Sonic asked, looking up at the stunned crystalline hedgehog. "Chaos, Sol and Master Emerald combined into one.

Think I'll call them Super Emeralds."

Mephiles just stood there with wide awed eyes.

"Well truth be told it was Zeus' idea. I just finished the job he didn't get time to complete." The blue hedgehog admitted. "It wasn't really that difficult and I'm surprised nobody thought of doing it before."

"What… no this is impossible!" Mephiles started in complete and utter alarm. "How can you be…"

"What, I'm not acting how you remember?" Sonic asked with his eyes closed, his quills flowing out behind him. "Listen up you freak! Solaris isn't the only one who can bend fate. We all do it, each and every day.

Here… now… I decide my own fate and you…" He raised a finger and pointed it directly at him. "You are not it!"

Calling the Power of the Super Emeralds into his being Super Sonic's golden fur sparked with near unlimited energy.

Slowly his quills began to grow longer, each one becoming slender and more streamlined. New quills were even beginning to grow in places.

"My god… what is this?!" Mephiles gasped before with one final explosion of pure light the transformation completed itself.

The crystal hedgehog dug his hands into the Gate's lava like exterior to keep himself from being blown away. The shockwave passed through space, striking the Earth and causing massive earthquakes across its surface.

Dozens of Giant Metarex were hurled back by the sheer force and knocked to the ARK's surface.

Mephiles looked up in complete disbelief at the sight that awaited him.

Sonic was no longer himself. His body was rippling with raw power and that was obvious with a mere look at him, sparks of electricity going from his body to scar the ground around him at random.

He was taller with longer quills that reached down behind him, the outer quills slightly curved. His fur was never one colour, it kept changing; one moment it was blue, the next red, then green, then purple; rotating around the colours of the rainbow. Slowly, the new form turned and looked Mephiles directly in the eye.

The hedgehog's eyes were completely white, lacking a pupil or iris as if he were blind. Even through the transformation had finished his entire being still seemed to radiate with some intense inner light.

"What… what the hell are you?" The crystal hedgehog demanded trembling in fear. A smile ceased the face of the new form.

"I am the true Iblis Trigger." He stated. "This is what you were meant to be Mephiles." Then with deliberate movements he turned to face him. "I am Hyper Sonic."

Mephiles gagged out as a fist flamed directly into his stomach, yet his eyes swore to him that Hyper Sonic never moved. Yet there he was, in two places at once! This new being was moving so fast he was leaving after images. With unimaginable speed he had moved before the naked eye could even detect it.

Mephiles didn't have enough time for analysis as Hyper Sonic followed through with a barrage of kicks that shattered the armour on his left arm before sending him flying, spiralling through the air over the orange gate before he was able to regain his balance.

Before he could react, Hyper Sonic came at him again, striking him from behind before rebounding off his body and propelling his body down towards the side of the gate. Bouncing off his, he came back twice as fast, hitting Mephiles again and again before he finally dealt a deadly blow that knocked the crystalline hedgehog down towards the vortex.

Mephiles managed to right himself before he fell into the porthole and flew back over to the edge of the gate, healing the armour around his arm before swinging around with anger burning in his eyes.

Moving at an inconceivable fast speed, Hyper Sonic came at him again. This time Mephiles was able to offer up more of a defence but still the multi-coloured hedgehog was simply on another level, pounding through the shields of crystal and landed over a dozen punches directly across Mephiles face.

As he staggered, Hyper Sonic grabbed Mephiles arm and slammed another two kicks in before landing a powerful third. The blow sent him flying before he crashed into the side of one of the gates pincer towers.

"Hyper…" Hyper Sonic began. "Sonic…" Mephiles managed to push an eye open to watch his enemy cupping his hands. "WIND!"

Throwing them forward, the energies within this new body discharged in a hyped version of Sonic's regular attack; a vortex of power that changed colour as well.

It moved with lightning speed, and like a tornado it struck home with a tremendous force. Mephiles was forced against the side of the stone by the attack and pinned there as the assault continued.

The sheer force tore the stone pincer, standing over a mile high apart and it crumbled; most of it toppling forth until it crashed into the gate's vortex. Any part that fell on top of Hyper Sonic seemed to disintegrate before it came close.

Mephiles lay there in the rubble, his armour covered in cracks and parts of it missing almost completely.

He coughed up some blood before defying his own pain he swung back to his feet; shaking the dust out of his quills.

"You think it's over?" He demanded, his blood ridden eyes widening and glowing with an intense light of their own. "You're a fool!" He whirled around, facing Hyper Sonic completely. "As soon as Iblis emerges from the gate, we will be one! Then when then true Solaris rises no amount of power will be able to save you."

Hyper Sonic managed a smirk.

"Big talk… but I'm not going to give you the chance to merge with Iblis." He clenched a fist, energy flowing down his arm and into his fingers. "I'm killing you right here, right now!"

* * *

--

(In Chris' Voice)

I've been with Sonic a long time but all good things have to come to an end. We all have to find our own ways soon enough. We can't rely on others all the time. At some point we have to stand on our own two feet.

But does it have to be now?

Sonic… please come back. We all still need you.

Next Time: Ragnarok Saga, The Final Zone.

Don't miss it.


	73. Episode 37, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

-

Ragnarok Saga, the Final Zone

-

Episode 37: Creation and Destruction, the Power of Solaris

-

* * *

-

The punch caught Mephiles across the face so fast the crystalline hedgehog didn't even have time to even see it coming. Another blow came coursing up into his stomach.

Winded, Mephiles staggered forth clutching at himself as parts of the crystal rock embedded in him broke off. Never before had he been hit so hard. It felt like an entire planet had smashed itself into him.

A kick followed through which knocked him back and that was quickly followed by an upper cut. Thrown into the air, Mephiles was left open to another attack.

"Hyper Sonic wind!" Cupping his hands, Hyper Sonic threw both hands forward and the discharge of energy was a swirling vortex of light that threw the crystalline hedgehog clear across the width of the gate until he crashed into the far side. Dust flew out in directions as anoher of the claws overshadowing the gate into Nexus was shattered.

"It's… its unreal." Eggman started, staring at the glowing nimbus surrounding Sonic's transformed body. "What power! Its impossible! How can…"

"Stay quiet and listen to me." A voice suddenly began inside his head and the Doctor when rigid in awe.

He wasn't the only one hearing the voice. Everyone on the Earth below and in the ships around it could hear it. Everyone simply stopped what they were doing and stared around them, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

"It's me."

Amy blinked, recognising the voice.

"Sonic… Sonic its you!"

"Holy shit, he's alive!" Hare stammered looking pale.

On the ARK, inside the Eclipse Cannon control room, Shadow looked up weekly; a smile passing over his lips.

"Yes I'm alive." Hyper Sonic stated, speaking to everyone at the same time using his enhanced powers; one of which was telepathy. "I can beat him right now but If Mephiles combines with Iblis then that's it, we're done.

You can not allow Iblis to come out of that gate. It has to be destroyed."

Krish grunted in annoyance, grabbing a startled Titan Ceberus and crushing its skull in with his claws.

"Just what do you think we're trying to do here?" He demanded, desperately trying not to think about the wound in his shoulder.

"We can't get through, there are too many of them!" Okida added, the Diablon doing a backward flip over a Cyclops.

"I'm going to give you some of my own power." The hedgehog stated, turning to face them. "More than enough to take down that gate. But you're going to have to be quick. I can sense Iblis is almost ready to come out."

"No!" Silver declared almost in utter fright. "I can't…. I can't let that nightmare happen again!"

"It's alright." Hyper Sonic assured him. "Now, relax; this might feel a little weird." His eyes began emitting a powerful white light and through invisible threads he transferred his energy, which in this state was almost limitless, to those best deserving of it.

"Woah! What the…" Okida asked as his body was instantly engulfed by a fantastic golden light. He froze in mid sentence, feeling power the likes of which he had never known flow into his being.

Topaz just looked back in amazement as her partner underwent his transformation, his fur changing from golden brown to royal blue and his eyes began glowing, the pupils trailing an eerie blue light.

His wings altered as well, becoming those of a dove with long feathers; each one a blazing bright gold.

Knuckles staggered back in surprise as his body began glowing. Beside him, Rouge was the same, her own form emitting light like a miniature sun. Slowly he changed from blood red to a soft rose pink and his strength doubled on hundred fold.

Rouge's own transformation was a bit more extreme, her fur changing from white to violet and her wings, like Okida's, becoming those of a golden Angel.

In the centre of the Ark, Shadow and Maria picked themselves back up, feeling their own energies restore themselves in a flash and then climb to new heights. In a flash of light they were restored to their Super Forms.

Metal Sonic's body, left damaged at the base of the gate, began to repair itself. The nano bots infesting his body reattached his scattered limbs and once he was whole again, his royal blue metal skin flickered once or twice before it became a brilliant gold.

Still on the Angel Wing, Silver's body flickered like a dying candle before it blazed brightly. His quills became jagged and curved upwards, his grey fur changing colour from white to a brilliant bronze. His mind expanded and he felt like he could wrench the moon out of orbit with his telekinesis now.

"Tails… you…" Cosmo began in stunned awe as her saviour began glowing. His fur was emitting a powerful light. It did not change colour by his body was permanently engulfed in that glow. To his side, came birds, manifestations of power, changed like fiery phoenixes.

There was a powerful flash and instantly, the jacket he had worn ripped itself to pieces and fell away. With it went the persona of Miles, the cold and hard fox and Tails was reborn.

On Jet's ship, Blaze's fur swung from purple to a bright pink and her body was not surrounded by light but rather intense flames.

"Oh it's so beautiful." She muttered, accepting to fire as the Babylon Rogues watched on in amazement.

Amy felt the power flow into her but didn't even look up as her fur changed from pink, becoming like Sonic, a bright gold. Her eyes became blood red and her quills jagged, turned up as her Super form took hold. She paid attention to none of it as tears of joy ran down her checks, feeling the presence of the hedgehog she loved in her soul.

"Booyah!!" Okida declared in glee, laying both hands on the controls of the Diablon. Topaz, through her mental link with both Okida and the machine itself; felt a sudden shift. Rather than fighting himself. Okida was reinforcing the Diablon; making it stronger, faster and infinitely more powerful. But beyond that, she could feel the Diablon's self awareness which had always been there grow, changing from a barely felt presence to a full sentience.

The outside of the mech glowed briefly before it's colour changed, the red armour becoming blue and the wings taken from the albatross mech morphing. They folded back and forth, new pieces emerging before finally they were as introvert a pair of wings as Okida's, each metallic feather golden yellow.

Many others received energy as well, although not enough to force any kind of transformation it did replenish those fighting and restore their tired and battered bodies.

"Ahh now THAT is more like it!" Krish stated as the wounds inflicted by Mephiles healed, sinking his talon into a Cyclops and burning it from the inside out with a powerful blast of green fire.

It was amazing to watch. Hyper Sonic was a blazing comment, moving far faster than the eye could see. He slammed into Mephiles with the force of an oncoming train, sending the crystalline being flying. Soaring past him, Hyper Sonic was waiting for the on coming body and knocked it straight down towards the Egg Moon.

"Hyper Sonic Wind!" Hyper Sonic declared, throwing both hands forward; calling forth an insanely powerful vortex of power that ensnared the falling Mephiles and tossed him about like a rag doll caught in a maelstrom. The crystalline hedgehog vanished in a sea of light before his battered body was thrown down like a falling star, trailing fragments of crystal until it impacted the metallic side of the satellite. The metal hull of Eggman's fortress bent inward from the sheer force of the impact; pieces of it flying off in different directions and the lights across its entire bulk went out.

"Oh it's a good thing we had that insured." Becoe remarked, watching as the Eggmoon's metal half gained its own crater.

Mephiles was now quite annoyed.

"ENOUGH!" He declared, and clenched both fists by his side. "If what you say is true and you are only one possible variation of me, then causality should be quite satisfied if I kill you!"

His blood shot eyes turned completely red and glowed intently. Sparks of lightning crossed over his body like a thunder storm, conflicting with those that gathered around Hyper Sonic, small explosions erupting into the air every few feet.

"I haven't got all day." Hyper Sonic remarked. "Let's go."

Mephiles' smiled, his muzzle pulling apart to reveal the jagged teeth. Crossing his arms in front of himself, he called upon the powers of evil that made up his body and mind. His form surrounded by darkness, a shroud of purple and black with bolts of dark lightning coursing down him to scar the ground.

Hyper Sonic only stood there watching.

The armour of crystal healed instantly and new parts began to grow out of it. Jagged spokes lanced out from the elbow sand knees, along with a thick ridge down the back between the spines. All the while the darkness surrounding Mephiles intensified until his skin seemed to be covered in a thin shimmering layer of black.

The Eggmoon beneath them trembled as if in fear and parts of it cracked and bent.

"Time to die!" Mephiles declared and shot forward, moving far faster than before.

Hyper Sonic blocked the blows before swinging his leg around. Mephiles blocked that and retaliated by grabbing the multi-coloured hedgehog by the arm and swinging him down towards the ground. Hyper Sonic recovered in mid air and flipped back up.

With a shockwave in his wake he soared right back up at Mephiles with a blow that caught the evil hedgehog too fast to defend; the punch sinking itself directly into the stomach.

Recoiling, Mephiles swung back for a single instant before striking forward again, this time catching Hyper Sonic across the face with a punch that knocked him to the side. Another punch came rocketing in an upper cut before the finale, both hands cupped together with a blow down across the forehead. Sent plummeting, Hyper Sonic went into a free fall; trailing light.

Before Mephiles could celebrate, there was a bright flash and instantly Hyper Sonic's body was surrounded by intense light.

Soaring back up like a comet, the multi-coloured hedgehog struck Mephiles directly in the chest with a punch that cracked the armour, even under his covering of protective shadows.

"Chaos Control!" Mephiles declared from between clenched teeth and instantly he disappeared, without even leaving a green flash in his wake.

Despite his own fantastic augmented speed, Hyper Sonic could not protect himself as Mephiles launched at him from behind, his leg swirling around in a series of kicks that hit so hard and fast it was impossible to defend.

For a finale, Mephiles grabbed the stunned Hyper Sonic by the arm and held him there with one hand while gathering the darkness that was himself into the other. Forming a ball of scorching darkness, he fired it directly into his enemies face. The blast hit home and Hyper Sonic fell back with black smoke trailing him his eyes and mouth.

"Sonic!" Super Amy cried out, looking up.

"Stay focused." Super Shadow told her, flying back before launching a barrage of golden Chaos Spear attacks across the width of the gate, breaking parts of it apart.

Others were doing their best to destroy the gate as well. Super Tails's fiery birds exploded as they flew into it, always resurrecting themselves by their master's side after their kamikaze attacks.

Repeatedly pounding into the side of the gate using his fits, gradually Super Knuckles was breaking down the physical form of that monstrous rip in the universe and with Super rouge by his side they were doing considerable damage.

Super Metal Sonic flew along the outside of the gate, tossing energy blasts into the structure was quickly as possible; his rapid attack carving massive holes but he simply wasn't causing enough damage fast enough.

The Diablon, with its bright new colours; flew up high above the vortex and brought forth its plasma cannon. Fuelled by the new energies pulsing through it, the charge of energy was greater than ever before. The end of the canon glowed, gathering particles of light within itself before with a shockwave it discharged.

There was aloud tearing sound and the mech fired, the discharge of energy far too strong for the Diablon to cope with the recoil and it was sent flying back until its wings re- positioned themselves to compensate.

The blast swept down like a bolt of lightning, carving a massive gash in the interior side of the tear in reality. Parts of the gate blew off entirely and a good size of the structure collapsed in on itself but the vortex itself did not.

Despite not having Super Forms of their own, others did their best to do damage to the gate.

The Babylon Rogues' ship coursed down across the width of the small planet, firing missiles as it went.

Eggman's massive Egg Guardian, near the size of the Miracle Planet itself, did as much damage as it could; hammering against the gate attempting to close it with its massive strength and size.

Krish leapt on top of the massive head and rearing his massive arms, he threw them forward sending a torrent of green fire down to scorch the surface of the gate black.

Much of the structure itself had been reduced to near rubble by these attacks

But still the vortex itself remained.

If anything, it seemed to get bigger, slowly changing from orange towards an angry blood red.

The thing, the giant planet sized thing, within the vortex was growing larger and larger as it drew near.

"I won't let you come out Iblis!" Super Silver snarled, flying directly in front of Dialbon and holding both hands forward; the marks glowing brightly. The material structure of the gate trembled as it was grabbed by the telekinetic hold.

Straining against the massive task of collapsing the gate, the hedgehog from the future gritted his teeth and tried to close his hands together, the action causing parts of the gate to close down and fall in upon itself.

It wasn't enough to destroy the tear but it was enough to allow the others to take headway in demolishing the horrible doorway.

He would not… after all he had been through now, allow this all to happen again. Iblis would not devour another world. The running stopped here.

"Stop that!" Mephiles snarled, turning to face them and holding up his hand; gathering dark energy between his jagged fingers. The sphere of darkness was ready in seconds and without second thoughts he tossed it down at them.

Flying to Silver's defence, Phoenix Blaze called forth the fires she could control and placed a barrier of flames directly between them and the projectile. The sphere exploded upon reaching that firewall, erupting into a shockwave blast that knocked her back several feet before she strained against it, bringing forth more fire to ward off the assault of shadows.

"Drown in darkness!" Mephiles declared, throwing forth both hands and allowing a tidal wave of shadows to wash down from his body to overwhelm the flames.

Reinforcing the flames with her own telekinetic powers she desperately tried to keep the darkness at bay, but it was like trying to stand against the tide itself.

"Why don't you?" Krish's tail spun out of nowhere, the spikes on the end impaling Mephiles directly through the chest. The assault of darkness on blaze's fire shield dissipated.

The powerful limb whipped around with Mephiles stuck on the spike. Krish tossed him high before sending him down downwards the gate.

Mephiles prepared to upright himself but at the last second, Hyper Sonic came flying out of the vortex; fist drawn back; his outline shining like the sun.

The punch connected with the force of a rushing freight train, slamming so hard into the crystalline hedgehog's face that the armour cracks and flew off in several different directions.

Energy discharged through his body; beams of light cutting their way out from Mephiles' skin; lancing off causing the armour to crack and break in more places. The crystalline hedgehog of darkness flew, tumbling back and forth as parts of him exploded from within; smoke cascading out of his body.

"Thanks." Hyper Sonic commented, giving a half glance back towards Krish. "But I got this."

Mephiles did a flip in mid air, healing his armour as he screeched in anger. Darkness engulfed him and clad in his cloud of black, he flew like a meteor towards Hyper Sonic.

Clasping his hands together, Hyper Sonic charged up his body and instantly he was surrounded by a powerful aura; sparks of light arching around him.

Flying directly into the cloud, the hero met the challenge head on; delving into the black clouds.

From within, loud sounds of battle echoed out. The imagination of anyone within ear shot conjured images of inhuman strength being employed to leave injured the mortal mind could not conceive. Parts of the cloud were illuminated as the two combatants clashed, showing other brief glimpses of the battle itself like an after image.

"Come, face oblivion!" Mephiles cried out, his echoing voice filled with malice and hate. "You… you and everyone else in existence… fade into nothingness!"

There was a sudden loud ripping sound and suddenly quiet.

Then after a moment of prolonged silence, there was a loud crash; a sound as if two moons had crashed together and an object came hurtling down out of the cloud. It flew like a meteor, coursing down fast until it crashed into the Miracle Planet leaving a massive crater.

When the dark cloud above dissipated, only one of the combatants was left floating there.

Hyper Sonic, pulsing with all the colours of the Super Emeralds, was the victory and the defeated Mephiles was the one lying there, struggling to get back up.

The crystal fell away and the entire head was exposed. Underneath all that rock, Mephiles was entirely like Sonic. He had blue fur and the streamlined, fused quills were exactly the same arrangement. The green eyes were a slightly darker shade but apart from this, Mephiles was Sonic's double.

Mephiles staggered back, clutching at his side as more pieces of his armour began falling forth. Blood, red blood, was running from a spilt lip.

"This... this can't be happening!" Mephiles rasped. "I am infused with Iblis' power, there is no force aside from Solaris himself that is greater than Iblis' destructive force!"

He coughed up blood and collapsed back down to one knee.

Hyper Sonic did not reply. He just walked forward slowly, his eyes fixed directly on Mephiles.

Mephiles stumbled back. Hyper Sonic had far greater power than he did and forced to admit that, he knew that unless he did something quickly it was going to be over.

Reacting almost instinctively he held up a hand and fired half a dozen separate bolts of negative Chaos Energy directly at his opponent, who simply batted them aside as if they were flies.

Responding in kind, Hyper Sonic launched his own blast that collided with Mephiles and exploded. The blast knocked Mephiles to the ground, the rest of his armour slowly beginning to break off.

By now, the others with their enhanced powers had almost dealt with all of the Metarex monsters that had been unleashed by Black Doom through the gate and Krish was already on the verge of taking down the gate. Only Mephiles was left now.

"It's over." Hyper Sonic stated. "I will never become you."

He held out his hand ready to deliver the finish blow to the wounded crystalline hedgehog.

"Time for you to go!"

Before he could even gather the energy the ground beneath their feet began to shake. As if gripped by a tremor, the floor was completely unstable; breaking up in places. It wasn't just on the Angel Wing. The same affect was happened everywhere. On Earth, the coasts and mountains were broken by intense tremors and many cities began to fall apart.

The Eggmoon began to splinter, as if the half artificial satellite could not hold itself together until the sudden strain.

"What's going on?" Eggman asked, feeling even his mighty fortress shake from what Bokkun's sensor's registered as a massive special distortion. It took him only a few moments to isolate the origin.

It was the Gate.

The red had become a blazing hot white that was blasting out of the

"Okida, the sensor's were beginning up energy levels that are going through the roof." Topaz told her co-pilot. "I can't even track them!"

Mephiles glanced up, using the momentary break in the action to regenerate, his crystalline armour reforming around him. In that instant he recognised what was going on around them and he started laughing.

Hyper Sonic Swung around to stare down directly at the Gate as a dark shape of unbelievable size began to reveal itself.

"No!" Silver shouted in utter alarm. "NO!!" His terror and utter fear was solidified as, slowly at first, the tips of four massive fingers began to emerge from the vortex.


	74. Episode 37, part 2

The swirling vortex within churned and spat as something of immense size began to slide through.

"No freaking way…" Hyper Sonic gasped as the tips the fingers of a massive hand began to push their way out of the gate. Each finger was made completely out of fire that burned even in the depths of space and large enough to rival a small country in size. The skin was like the surface of lava and swirled like a fresh eruption. The knuckles were like ridges of fiery mountains spanning for miles in every directions

A loud groan echoed through from the gate as the hand itself emerged, a fiery limb large enough to grasp the Miracle planet like a large beach ball.

Iblis was a creature that not even the darkest nightmares could conjure. His size was overpowering and as his full body emerged from the gate, its true titanic scale could be appreciated. As it carved from a primordial planet, skin like blackened magma, it reached out and anything caught in its path was reduced to smouldering ashes within an instant.

Ships of all sizes burst into flames, even in the airless vacuum of space and disintegrated with their crews still inside.

"No… no… dear god no!" Super Silver stammered, backing off, clear terror and fear in his eyes.

Even Hyper Sonic had to double take at this colossal entity. Iblis was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. The size of a planet, his mere presence made the Earth itself seem petite in comparison.

Iblis had four arms, each twice as long as the earth was wide and together they were more than capable of crushing the planet in a fatal bear hug. The head, that terrible head, was where the real danger lay. It was titanic, so large that all its features could not be observed at once. A pair of emerald green eyes, tiny in comparison to the rest of the body but large enough by themselves to rival a small country in size, stared forward. Beneath them, barely concealed by lava like lips was a mouth so vast and horrible none could keep their eyes on it. It was like a void, a gaping hole beneath the jagged teeth that lead to oblivion itself.

"I don't believe what I'm seeing." Topaz began. Despite being in super form, Okida gulped audibly. He hadn't signed on for anything like this. Even the Diablon itself, the mind that guided it, seemed hesitate to move against such a terrible force.

The only one who did not flinch, even at the immense heat generated by this colossal titan was Super Shadow. He hovered there before the approached destruction, maintaining himself as best he could.

Raising both hands, he cupped his fingers and channelled energy, forming a powerful orb of chaos that sparked like ball lightning.

"I've faced odds like this all my life, I'm not about to back down now!" He declared in utter defiance before arching his back and tossing his attack forward as if it were a baseball.

Attacks of this magnitude had put dents in the defences of even the strongest of opponents before. The Biolizard, Metal Overlord and even Krish himself had paid need to such a display this sparking sphere that could destroy anything it came into contact with.

Iblis however was not impressed by the show. He continued advancing out of the gate, oblivious to the Chaos Spear. It made contact with him and exploded when it did, a bellowing cloud erupting from the impact. But not a scratch on the magma skin did it leave.

It as if is Iblis didn't even feel it. The effect to this aspect of destruction as not even that of a bee sting. That attack hadn't so much as tickled him.

"Okida, with me!" Super Metal Sonic declared, landed on top of the Diablon. With a metal clang he clasped his hands together, calling forth his own energy.

"Right." Okida replied and he and Topaz directed the Dialbon to raise its rifle. The two of them charged their energies together before their own attack burst forth, combined before them before shooting forward with a powerful recoiling shockwave.

This time, the attack struck Iblis full on the nose and the effect was definitely more than last time.

Iblis stopped.

"Did we hurt it?" Topaz asked, although deep down she knew that was simply too much to hope for.

Iblis snorted; the sound like that from an oxen blowing a fly off itself. The action that accompanied followed the same trait. It blew some smoke, enough smoke to clog up an entire city, out of its nostrils before it carried on, emerging from the gate completely.

Iblis' legs were humanoid, but armoured by cooled black magma and the feet seemed to be ablaze in fire. Finally the universe beheld the unmaking devil in all its horrific splendour, half of the creator, the aspect of destruction.

"So this is him is it?" Blaze asked. "This is the being that destroyed the future?"

Beside her, Silver just nodded; keeping his terror filled eyes fixed on the fiery titan.

Blaze regarded Iblis with a new clarity. In her culture, there was feared a fiery giant called Surtr, a demon that could cause the destruction of all that is during Ragnarok.

Mephiles let his head roll back and he laughed, spreading his arms out wide to welcome the new arrival.

"Yes, come my brother in arms; let us undo this universe together!" He declared as his crystalline armoured reformed around him.

"I hunger." Iblis announced, the mere sound of his voice shaking the entire solar system. The low pitched rumbling caused all nine planets and even the sun to quiver as if it were afraid.

It was as if when he spoke, existence itself stopped to listen. For this was destruction personified, one half of realities creator.

Mephiles grinned from ear to ear.

"Yes Iblis, feast before we merge!" He declared, thrusting a fist into the air. As the crystalline armour around his hand healed, he jobbed a finger towards the small blue and green world they floated around. "Wet your appetite; devour the Earth and all those defending it!"

Slowly, the large emerald green turned to fix themselves upon the small band that floated between the devourer and the Earth. Even in their super forms, the scrutiny of such a massively destructive and malevolent being was

"So Sonic, here's the million dollar question." Mephiles started, turning to glare at the hedgehog with a smug grin. "Which do you prefer, taking me down so I can't reach the Precious stone and merge with Iblis or defending your home world from the un-makers wrath?"

Hyper Sonic did not know what to do. Earth was right in Iblis' path. If he chose to go after Mephiles he would lave Earth at that demons mercy…. And if he chose to protect the Earth then he was putting all creation at risk.

As strong and fast as he had become, Hyper Sonic could still not be in two places at once.

"Ah that's the one and only thing I like about existence Sonic." Mephiles continued, widening the smile to show all his reformed jagged teeth. "The choices."

He was right.

At this pivotal moment, Sonic had to make a choice.

With a blast of colour in his wake, the hedgehog shot forward in an attempt to get between Iblis and the Earth in time.

Mephiles laughed, his cackle mocking his fleeing opponent as the dark hedgehog about turned and went for the Precious Stone.

The massive fiery hand descended towards the earth, burning everything in its path. Any debris left by the light ignited before burning away to nothing even before the fire got close. Those on the Earth trembled in fear, watching the sky above them burn and the air suddenly grow hotter and hotter as if the entire planet was about to burst into flames. In an affect that could only be called global warming gone mad, forests began to instantly burn, ice caps thawed so quickly it could be seen happening in the space of a few seconds.

The Egg Guardian, despite its own large size, was only big enough to oppose Iblis;' hand and so that was all it could do; using its massive bulk to lurch onto the devourers hand and keep it from advancing any further towards the Earth.

Even before contact, the metal frame and skin of the Egg Guardian began to melt. The moon sized machine was sturdy enough to endure it… although this would not last.

"With the Egg Shield at full power… I estimate we can hold it here for about…er… two minutes." The Bokkun control program told the Doctor although he needn't have bothered. Eggman knew all he was buying the Earth was a few minutes more time but at this point in his life… Eggman simply did not care.

He had a debt to pay these people. For all the misguided, foolish things he had done in his vain and selfish attempts at world domination.

"Deploy Marionettes!" He ordered.

All over the Egg Guardian from access ports and launches, the new robots developed using the technology of the Confederation emerged and swarmed up like an angry hive of bees towards the monstrous Iblis.

Iblis' other hands however did not remain idle as they swung down, grasping the Egg Guardian across the shoulders, the intense heat melting through the metal and causing intense damage. The Marionette robots fired off several rounds from their defence positions but the blasts fail to do even the slightest of damage.

Help came from an unexpected source as the Blue Typhoon flew directly across the massive fiery demon's face, drawing his attention away as the Egg Guardian backed off. It fired its entire missile payload in a single go, leaving a trail of devastation across Iblis' skin but still the strikes didn't seem to phase the monster in the least.

The Diablon flew in as close it could without being reduced to smouldering ashes. Feeding this Mech as much of his energy as he could, Okida directed its cannon down and he fired the energy discharge at point blank range directly into the lava skin.

This strike did cause Iblis to take notice although the affect as still not enough to cause him any serious damage. The recoil from the blast sent the mech flying backwards until it came into contact with the deck of the Blue Typhoon, latching down to get a better grip.

Iblis was faster than he looked and lashing out, his massive fingers came swinging down like meteors and before the Blue Typhoon could get out of the way it scored a direct hit across the white ships bow. The blow caused an intense amount of damage, a side engine blown off and a hole scorched in the underside.

Crippled by this single strike, the ship spiralled away uncontrollably.

"No!" Tails cried out.

Iblis glared down at the ship and with a single word he destroyed it.

"Burn." The word rolled out like thunder.

The Blue Typhoon was instantly engulfed by fire half of it flying forth from the back trailing flames as the bottom was reduced to molten metal instantly.

"Abandon ship!" Milford commanded as the bridge before him was consumed by fire. "All hands abandon ship!"

Flying as fast he could to get there in time to make a difference, Sonic was forced to watch the Typhoon fall past him before it was caught in the gravity well of the Miracle Planet.

"Well it's been fun Sonic." Mephiles laughed sadistically. His body was becoming more and more fluid as if he were dissolving. "I'd like to stay but an old friend of mine is visiting and it would be rude of me to make him wait. Ta Ta." His features collapsing into a dark liquid, Mephiles' body soared up into the air and charged up towards Iblis as the devourer's massive form moved towards the Earth. "Iblis will no longer consume planet after planet, a slow form of destruction that gives existence a chance to recover! No! The annihilation will be immediate and final! Solaris will consume time itself!"

With the Precious Stone in his grasp, Mephiles was more than capable of carrying out his threat.

Sonic about faced and held his arms out, forming an energy barrier between himself and the Devourer.

Mephiles just kept coming, putting every ounce of his reserve energy into this one attempt.

It paid off for him and he smashed through the shield, breaking it after a brief moment of conflict.

There was nothing Hyper Sonic could do as Mephiles with the Precious Stone intact sank into Iblis like a bullet from a gun.

"Ah crap." Was all he could mutter.

The moment it pierced him, Iblis stopped head; mouth hung open and all three moon sized eyes open wide in undisguised alarm. Silence endured and nobody, not even the great devourer himself moved.

Then the amazing happened.

Iblis began to contract, his massive planet sized body contracting; imploding as something inside began to consume it. It got smaller and smaller, the rate at which it shrunk getting faster and faster. Then once it was only the size of the Eggmoon, its body seemed to break apart from a solid into streaming torrents of fire that were encircling each other like winds in a cyclone; rotating around a single point and from that glowing point of light directly in the centre the evil mocking laugh of Mephiles' resonated out.

Reality was suddenly like fluid, bending around them as the light from that single point grew stronger and stronger and spreading out like an explosion. Within moment it had claimed Hyper Sonic, followed by the ships around it and then the Eggmoon. The Earth was next, its entire planetary body disappearing into the light. The light kept travel, travelling faster and faster until it was consuming planet after planet.

Those on Fenrir in the city of Soleanna only had a moment to look up in alarm before their world disappeared.

The citizen's of Kraken cried out in horror as they saw it come and unable to flee were consumed.

The galaxy was being eaten away by the light and before too long it was gone. The light was not just limited to this reality. Dimension after dimension were consumed as it spread, each one vanishing until there was nothing left but the light.

Hyper Sonic pushed an eye open, daring to lookout at what had happened. The sight that greeted him was beyond belief.

Everything was gone. The Earth, the Eggmoon, the Miracle planet and even the darkness of space itself. There was nothing around him but a void, black emptiness for as far as the eye could see. There was no sky, no floor, no horizon… nothing whatsoever.

"What…what is this?" He asked, his voice echoing half a dozen times in the dark void. "Where am I?"

"Sonic!" He heard someone call out. Glancing back, Hyper Sonic looked behind him to see Super Amy moving through the darkness towards him. He caught her in his open arms. "Sonic what happened?" She asked, her now golden quills still sparking with power.

"I don't know." Hyper Sonic admitted. "Mephiles' merged with Iblis before I could stop him but… did he succeed in reviving Solaris?"

"It would appear so." Another familiar voice stated. Flying up in front of them sharply, Super Shadow emerged; his face bearing the look of grim tidings. "Reality has been disrupted. This is the void…the nothingness. Professor Gerald theorized about it.

Quickly… follow me." He gestured for them to follow his lead and he flew off leaving a trail of golden energy in his wake. Super Amy and Hyper Sonic glanced at each other before following.

Super Shadow did not lead them far. He showed them that the void was not quite as empty as it appeared. As they moved forth they found pieces of battle strewn around. Half destroyed ships, pieces and rubble from the gate and upon such a piece more familiar faces were waiting.

"Meow. Sonic, Amy what is going on?" Sera asked, running up to meet them. "Everything just went… poof and we found ourselves here."

Sonic looked out at those present. Standing there awaiting them on this floating piece of rubble the size of a house was everyone who had helped and fought alongside them during this long struggle.

Cosmo, Tails, Iapetus, Rouge, Omega, Bark, Bean and Hare to name a few. Milford, Chuck and Chris too. Helen, Danny and Francis as well, along with their parents who were refusing to let them go. Chaotix were there, Vector holding Vanilla close to him while Cream would not let go of her mother's leg. Her robotic guardian Emerl as always stood beside her.

Even Krish was there, badly injured and bleeding but still there.

"This must be the doing of Mephiles and Iblis." Super Silver remarked as he and Phoenix Blaze settled down nearby as well.

"This void, it's what we in the physics business call a time rift." Chaotix and Omega parted to allow, to Sonic's surprise, Doctor Eggman and his two robot henchmen to step through. "A distortion of time and space, created by the resurrection of Solaris."

"And I thought 'my' resurrection had been impressive." Krish muttered, holding a hand to his bleeding forehead.

"Linear time has been…for lack of a better word…nullified" Eggman carried on. "Such is Solaris' great power. Control over the fabric of time and space themselves." The doctor craned his neck and looked up. Everyone followed his gaze and were met with an alarming sight. "And that, I believe, is the first form of life himself."


	75. Episode 38, part 1

(Sorry for latest chapters being late. My exams came along)

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!

Episode 38: Long journey's end

* * *

-

Solaris in shape and form resembled pictures Sonic had seen of the Egyptian sun god Ra.

It had the head of an eagle with a pair of small antler like horns protruding from the back. Its wings were like a five pointed jagged star out its back, each point glowing with a faint otherworldly light.

The body was marble white with an overlay almost like armour of a pale green over its arms; chest and head from this grew the eagle like face.

It had to legs and its form was basically that of a torso with a star across its back. Its hands were cloven with two large fingers and a third acting as a thumb.

A pair of bright golden eyes stood out directly in the centre of the face. Those eyes, those eyes were the worst thing of all.

While its overall size had not been as large as Iblis had been, its entire being radiated a sense of undeniable and unsurpassable power.

Under his gaze, even the power powerful of them winced and backed off as if unable to stand up even under this being gaze.

This was Solaris, the first form of life; the god who had spun the universe and all other universes out of the cosmic nothing before space and time.

"To all these gathered here." It spoke without opening its beak. "You survive only at my whim. Witnesses are required to see the end of all time and all causality." Its voice was like cracking thunder, a resonating shockwave which Iblis had inherited from it and now that gift had been returned to its original owner.

Slowly its mouth opened and a pulsating light emanated from within, a beam of light that spread out in all directions before, somehow, it began to pull back.

Hyper Sonic felt a wrench and staggered, feeling… strange. Memories began to ebb and flow within his own mind, as if they were dying one by one.

In his heart, he knew what was happening.

Solaris was devouring the moments in time from where these memories came from, swallowing the past bit by bit; sucking it from its rightful place in linear existence. It felt as if Solaris was eating his soul.

Was this not so? After all events in ones past shaped a person. If these events were nullified, Solaris would destroy their minds and souls before he put and end to this.

It took every ounce of courage the hedgehog could muster to even step forward, never mind launch an attack.

Solaris mere presence was overpowering.

Yet there was one part of Sonic's being that could be not overcome. It had laid there inside him for years, growing stronger and stronger as time went along.

It was something that even a god could not extinguish.

It was something commonly referred to as guts. Sonic had never given up, not once EVER! He had never run away from anything in his life.

And Solaris, the creator of the universe; even he could not make him turn and run.

Crying out like a berserker, he leapt up and flew towards the Egyptian styled god.

Everyone watched him, unable to understand how he could even move.

Still screaming, Hyper Sonic cupped his hands and fired the Hyper Sonic Wind attack directly into Solaris' chest.

The effect barley even seemed to scratch the surface. Solaris' entire body was as insubstantial as if he was were made of light.

The surface dimmed a little on the impact before regaining its glory in the space of a second.

Sonic tired again, this time flying in as close as he bared; firing rapid energy blasts across the skin of the god.

The effect was the same.

Solaris just ignored him.

"He…he needs help." Super Amy started, unable to watch him fight Solaris alone. She felt Solaris' dominating presence almost more than anyone but she could not and would not allow Sonic to battle such a monstrosity without aid.

Flying up herself, she defieid Solaris and came to Sonic's side. Everyone watched her and those two examples, fighting up there despite the odds rekindled the defiant spark that had been ignited with them only moments ago.

"Alright, let's go!" Okida stated and Topaz nodded once. The Diablon craned its neck, swung before leaping up and flying forth.

The mech was followed nearly instantly by Super Shadow and Super Silver, flying up in formation around it. Maria and Blaze followed quickly.

The Titans were the next to launch themselves into the fray to do battle. Those who had once been Metarex, now restored to their proper selves, declared as one;

"For Olympus!" 

Knuckles flew up as well, Rouge in tow. Super Metal Sonic was now far behind, ready to strike a blow for the glory of the Machine Federation.

Super Tails cast one last glance at Cosmo before he too launched himself up, calling forth his manifestations of power in the form of birds.

"Oh no, you're not taking all the glory!" Krish snarled, staggered up to his feet and calling forth his wings. Although he was injured he still flew up to do battle.

Tikal watched them go and a strange awe settled on her.

All these fighters who were now doing battle to save the universe had at one time all been enemies, bitter rivals from across the universe.

It was strange and gratifying to see them all, fighting side by side. Even Krish, who had been nothing but a devil to them was coming to their aid. Enemies past and future stood in alliance for the first time.

Tikal descended to her knees and put her hands together in pray. Following her example, Elise did the same. Then everyone who Solaris had spared from the warp fell to their knees as well.

High above the battle raged. The defenders struck the mightiest blows they could. Super Amy's hammer continually struck with all her might. Blaze called forth an inferno and sent it down upon the god.

Knuckles brought his strength to bare and struck as hard as he could, harder than against any opponent he had fought before.

Yet their efforts seemed utterly fruitless.

Even Super Silver could not lock onto him using his enhanced telekinesis.

Solaris seemed completely invulnerable.

Super Metal Sonic got in the closest, striking directly with his claws across the massive neck; a strike that would have cleaved any other opponent in half. Solaris barely even felt it. The blow wasn't even that of a insect bite.

"That's enough!" Super Shadow declared angrily, white fury burning in his eyes. "I will NOT be ignored!" His body disappearing in a flash of green light, he teleported directly above Solaris and started gathering energy inside his cupped hands as he readied a strong Chaos Spear. Bolts of lightning sparked around him like a thunder storm.

Beside him, Maria did the same. As her new body was based on Shadow's DNA she had most of his powers and the Chaos Spear was not difficult to master. She even managed to match his ferocity, her own energy sparking wildly.

The two of them fired their attacks together. The two spun around each other momentary before merging into one blast that struck Solaris directly in the face. Smoke bellowed up around him, black and night and the smell of burnt flesh hung thickly.

Any hope that raised crushed instantly when the smoke cleared.

Still Solaris ignored them, keeping its mouth wide open as causality continued to be drawn down its throat. There wasn't even a scorch mark on him.

"We're not getting anywhere!" Super Tails called out, seeing that no matter what he tried he wasn't even leaving a mark on Solaris' body.

His birds continued to commit their kamikaze attacks but with little effect.

"Let's see him ignore this!" Krish snarled, holding his claws forth. With a flush of intense heat, a ball of burning green flames appeared before him and slowly began to grow in power and strength.

The Titan Seedrians, Atlas, Iapetus and Prometheus flew up behind Krish and each laid a hand on his back. Through this connection they fed him their own power, channelling it down as the ball of green fire became a sun so bright and intense it was blinding to look at.

Soon the ball was even bigger than themselves.

"BURN!" Krish declared, throwing his hands forth and launching the attack which by now was three times his size. It rocketed forward like a comet, coursing through the unstable reality toward Solaris.

For a moment it looked as if the ball of fire might strike but at the last second, Solaris' massive bird like head looked around and its glowing eye noticed the oncoming blast.

Now, they finally had his attention.

"Be gone." A deep booming echoing voice that seemed to be both the voice of Mephiles and another with greater depth, declared and a wave of power so intense it defied reality itself shot forth. It nullified the attack in an instant and then struck its origin. Krish and the titans were sent flying back as if they were slammed against an oncoming train.

"Maximum heat Knuckles attack!" The glowing pink echidna screeched, flying forth with his power surrounding him like a protective shield. Before his fist could even make contact, Solaris glanced at him half heartedly and banished the attacker. Knuckles was tossed back like a leaf caught in an updraft, his Super form amounting to nothing against the ultimate enemy.

"Blitz wave!" Super Rouge tried her own luck as Super Knuckles spiralled past her out of control. Unlike the others, her attack actually did hit Solaris but when it struck it rebounded and came souring back at her.

It was now clear to Hyper Sonic that Solaris wasn't even trying to defeat them. They were like flees on its back as far Solaris was concerned and although it paused briefly to scratch at them, eventually it would resume its meal undeterred.

Only Hyper Sonic had the necessary strength to even make Solaris look up.

Soaring in close, the multicoloured hedgehog darted between Solaris' massive eyes as the godlike being opened is beak as it tried to resume its consumption of time. The hue to light covering his body, Hyper Sonic slammed the hardest punch he could directly into that eye.

Solaris denfietly took notice that time.

The screech the god emitted as horrible to hear and even Krish had to lift their hands to their ears in attempt to blot it out.

Calling forth quite a bit of its power, Solaris knocked Hyper Sonic away from itself as it lifted a cloven hand to its eye.

"Alright, they hurt it!" Eggman declared with a thick triumphant grin.

Void shook his head.

"No, they're just making him angry."

Hyper Sonic was the first to perceive how out classed they were.

Even he paled in comparison to Solaris, even with the power of the Super Emeralds to call on. Against Mephiles and perhaps even Iblis he might have stood a chance. He had fought against destroyers, demigods, devils and false gods… but never before had he tested his skills against a true deity.

He had been found wanting.

Calling forth its power, Solaris attacked… a true attack and not just a flimsy swatting away that it had been doing up until now.

It was an attack on a level of reality that was invisible to those confined to the three dimensions that make up mortal reality. When it struck, even Hyper Sonic felt his mind and body snap like a twig as he vanished within a massive ball of light and faded from sight.

"Sonic!" Super Amy cried out, trying to rush to his aid. When she did however, she became Solaris' next target.

Solaris merely opened his mouth to deal with those who opposed him and when he did, he swallowed them all… a gust of wind of intense force and power pulling them in one by one.

It was as if their powers meant nothing and he consumed them as easily as he did time itself. Those on the sidelines were forced to watch in horror as Knuckles was sucked in first, followed by Rouge and then the Diablon with Okida and Topaz inside it. Tails resisted but the end his resistance was for nought. Along with Krish and the Titans he was pulled inside, desperately trying to latch onto something.

Shadow and Maria managed to fire off an energy blast that struck Solaris in the head before they were consumed but the combined attack didn't even cause the god to blink.

"Silver!" Phoenix Blaze cried out, unable to call forth any of her fire in the engulfing wind as she was sucked inside. Employing the powers of the mind, Silver held out; keeping himself rigid and in place un-swayed by the wind around him.

"I… I will not yield!" He declared, throwing his defiance at the godlike entity.

"Who ever said you had to?" Solaris asked with an amused look passing briefly over its face. Suddenly its mouth opened far wider and the sheer force of the pull expanded ten fold, overriding Silver's telekinesis and drawing him inside almost as if he were falling.

With all obstacles swallowed, Solaris slammed his beak shut with a loud crunching sound that echoed like a mountain collapsing.

Rearing back his head, he swallowed with a very audible gulping sound everyone he had collected inside his mouth.

"Your attempts to stop me are amusing but this game is over." Its voice was doubled as if two people were speaking the same words at the same time. "I CAN NOT be beaten by fists and flimsy combustions. Your attempts at battle are pitiful. Even the greatest amongst you is simply far too small to defeat me."

For a period of prolonged silence no body said anything, too scared to even move under those unblinking glowing yellow eyes.

"Let them go!" One lone voice suddenly declared and everyone looked around in surprise to see Eggman moving forth. The last person to ever champion Sonic's cause came to his defence. "Let them go and they'll defeat you!"

Solaris just laughed at him.

"And what tiny thoughts delude you into thinking that firstly, I'll grant you this and secondly that they'll be any affective against me the second time then they were the first?"

Eggman did not have an answer so instead Rhea stepped forward.

"One amongst them can defeat you. I know this and now how they'll do it. Let them go and they'll prove it to you."

Eyes alight with mirth; Solaris peered close so its massive face was right before them all.

"But you have not yet answered my first question." It replied. "Why should I?"

"Does the great Solaris, even stained by the dark infection of Mephiles, not know the thrill of a challenge?" Rhea asked.

"Only one is destined to rival me and he is not here." Solaris was dismissive but his voice changed for that single instant. Instead of being a mixture of Mephiles and another, the second voice was far stronger this time.

"Let them go… and they'll bring him forth to face you."

There was a mixture of expressions on Solaris' eagle like face. It twisted from annoyance to wonder and back again, as if Mephiles was fighting for control now that Rhea was speaking to the god himself.

"Your offer is intriguing." The god admitted. "You say those what amounted to no more than insects against me can call forth the only entity that can rival my strength?

You are being hopelessly optimistic. I have existed for eons and watched for countless centuries and never have I observed anything, even the culminated power of Emeralds that comes close to me."

"There is always a first time." Rhea stated simply.

Solaris' face contorted.

"No!" This time Mephiles' voice was dominant. "I will not play your game! I will devour all of time, just as I have devoured these peons!" Even the body of the god was shaking, trembling as its two owners fought for control.

"You are nothing, Mephiles. I speak to the true god of time, Solaris, he who began linear."

Solaris snorted as if two minds clashed at once.

One of them won out.

"Very well." It stated.

He reared his head back, held it there for a moment before throwing it forward. His beak parted and he vomited forth everyone he had swallowed, all tangled together where huddled up like frightened child. All of them had reverted back to their previous forms, their super abilities stripped from them, even Sonic who was once again blue.

The bodies landed in a heap on a floating fragment of stone.

Almost as if clearing his throat, Solaris coughed and let forth a final gift from his mouth; the seven Super Emeralds that Sonic had so recently put together. They clattered on the ground, bouncing before they came to a stop at their feet.

"I will grant you one chance and one chance only." Solaris stated and then hovered back to wait.

Sonic hoisted himself up, shaking his head and looking extremely groggy.

"Oh I feel as if I've been put through a meet grinder."

"Ah, no time to rest now Hedgehog." Looking up, he saw Eggman standing nearby. The scientist offered him a hand up. Sonic took it and hoisted back to his feet.

"Eggman, wha…what happened." The blue hedgehog looked around at his comrades lying on the jagged ground, beaten and then he knew. "Oh." He added.

"Don't give up just yet, old boy, we're not finished." Eggman told him. Then he looked over his shoulder toward Rhea. "We're not finished yet, are we?"

She shook her head.

"No." She replied. Then she glanced off towards the Titans who was struggling to get back up. "Prometheus, old friend, I believe we've run out of options."

The Seedrian titan looked up at her then nodded once grimly.

"Father, I need your help." He started at Iapetus. "You too brother." Atlas glanced up groggily.

Rhea approached Sonic and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Sonic." She started and then paused as if unable to sure how to start. "You are the only one who can defeat Solaris."

"Oh sure, no pressure." The blue hedgehog remarked with levelled eyebrows.

"I mean that in a far more physiological way." She added. "You are the Trigger, the last Trigger. You are the only one, foretold eons ago, who can match god himself."

Sonic stood there with a raised eyebrow.

"But only once you transcend."

"Tras…wha?" He asked unable to understand.

"Grow." She amended. "You have to surpass what you are now." She ushered him forth into a circle formed by the Seedrians, all the Titans, herself, Void, Lumina and Cosmo. The Super Emeralds were placed around him in a circle within this one.

"Alright." Sonic began. "If it means beating this guy then lets do it!"

"All of you, form a circle around us and hold hands." Iapetus called back to everyone around them. "This is going to be rough."

Everyone did so without arguing, keeping their eyes fixed on Sonic in the centre.

"How much do you all trust this hedgehog?" Prometheus asked the crowds, gesturing to Sonic who looked back in momentary confusion.

"With our lives." Eggman, surprisingly, was the first to say. Amy nodded almost immediately and the sentiment began to echo throughout the crowd.

Everyone nodded. Shadow trusted Sonic more than anyone. Metal Sonic gave it as well, even if they had once been the most bitter of enemies.

Krish's trust was not quite as easily earned but Sonic had gained it none the less.

"Then give him that trust." Prometheus declared. "You're faith and your strength, everything you have to give; give it to him." The Titan joined the circle and everyone held hands.

"Ready?" Iapetus asked Sonic with a smug smile.

"Do it!" Sonic declared.

Watching Solaris raised an eyebrow in curiosity as … something began to happen.

There was a flash of gold light. Super Sonic came forth, the fur golden and quills jagged.

Then the Super Emeralds were absorbed the transformation to Hyper Sonic began. The quills lengthened and he began changing colour rapidly.

But it didn't stop there.

Hyper Sonic doubled over, clutching at his chest as he felt the dam break within him. Pouring into his body, mind and soul was more power than he could handle at one time. He cried out in pain.

"Sonic!" Amy declared moving forward.

"No!" Prometheus snapped at her. "Do not move! Let it finish!" The female hedgehog froze before nodding once and reassuming her posture, directing the energy she had down into him.

Sonic felt as if he were absorbing his friends … all of them… one by one.

He felt Krish's strength become his. Knuckles' raw physical power merged with his own.

Eggman's intelligence bolstered his. Jet's and the other Babylon Rogue's acrobatic skill exchanged from their owners to him.

By now they had attracted Solaris' attention and the great bird like entity turned its massive head and looked down at them as Hyper Sonic's body began to glow even brighter.

The entire Seedrian race gave up their power. Cosmo, Void, Lumina, Rhea, Prometheus, Iapetus and all of the kin willingly sacrificed their collective strength and gave it all to him. The Titans who had once been Metarex offered up their power.

The humans were no different. Chris, Helen, Danny, Francis, Sam, Chuck, Milford and his soldiers… with their entire species behind them their power was almost overwhelming as if flowed to him.

The Riggarcial were a race who had been wounded, emotionally as well as physically yet their share of energy counted for a great deal. Talos and Hyper were the first to surrender their strength, followed closely by others of their kind.

Those forming the first circle watched in amazement as Hyper Sonic underwent another transformation.

Slowly his quills were growing longer, each one stretching out until they even reached the back of his calves. Move were growing, even him a spiky long haired look. New quills jutted out everywhere; some from behind his ears and others in admits the quills already there.

Frantically his body changed colours, from blue to green to white to blazing yellow, going faster and faster.

Then it darkened, and became almost black. The quills were still just as long only now it was hard to tell them all apart and a pair of white lines were tracing themselves up from his eyes, across his forehead and down his top quill.

The ground benath them shook, parts of it flying off in different directions.

"Seven Rings in Hand." Prometheus muttered before with a flash of utter power, the transformation finished itself.

"Sonic?" Amy asked and then the head turned to look at her it became obvious in an instant that the blue hedgehog had been pushed beyond their narrow concepts of reality.

"Dark Spine Sonic." He corrected her gently, before whipping around to face Solaris.

Dark Spine Sonic now had the beings full attention and it did not appear pleased.


	76. Episode 38, part 2

The first Ring had been formed by the Super Emeralds, the culmination of the Chaos Emeralds and the Sol Emeralds – **_Prayers_**.

The second Ring was made by the Seedrians, Titans and Olympians altogether. Iapetus, Prometheus, Cosmo, Void, Lumina, Rhea, Atlas, Oceanus and the rest of their race. – **_Sadness_**.

The third Ring was made of the friends Sonic had made during his life, Amy, Tails, Chris, Knuckles, Rouge, Cream, Cheese, Vector, Espio Charmee, Vanilla, Emerl and multitudes of others. – **_Joy_**.

The Fourth Ring was made by those who had once been enemies. Eggman, Shadow, Maria, Metal Sonic and even Krish himself. – **_Hatred_**

The Fifth Ring was composed by the Riggarcial survivors that escaped from the destruction of their home world, Hydra. Hyper and Talos stood there amongst them. – **_Rage._**

The sixth Ring was made by the human race, the beings who Sonic had quickly become a hero to. – **_Pleasure._**

The Seventh and Final Ring was made the souls who Sonic had past and touched in his life, those on whom his mere existence had been a positive influence. The Babylon Rogues, Helen, Danny, Francis, Piranha, Jericho Mandarin, Milford and thousands of others. – **_Wishes._**

"Heh, Seven's always the magic number." The hedgehog muttered with ironic humour.

Dark Spine Sonic had reached a new plateau and it was possible for the eyes of mortals to see the full extent of his new form. It was like trying to behold something behind a wall through a pin prick small hole in that wall. Slowly at first, Dark Spine Sonic tested his body; flexing it back and forth as if he feared something might be wrong.

Apparently satisfied, he turned and looked directly up at Solaris. The god was staring down at him with unblinking yellow eyes.

There was a moment of palpable silence.

Then, as if he was in two places at once; Dark Spine Sonic shot forth and landed a punch directly into the end of Solaris' beak. The blow caused an unbelievable amount of damage, knocking the gods head backwards and causing the creator of the universe himself to stagger.

More than that, the spectators all gasped as they had felt the shockwave that blow had caused. It was like a ripple through each of them, a wave that seemed to toss their souls about like beach balls before they finally managed to settle themselves.

"Oh wow, did you feel that?" Knuckles asked, holding a hand to his hest with a lock of stunned awe on his face. It was perhaps the most rhetorical question ever asked. A better question would have been who had NOT felt that.

Solaris managed to steady his body and when he turned his head around, stunned disbelief was clear in his glowing eyes.

Stunningly, there was what appeared to be something that could very well be blood running from the upturned nostrils on his beak.

"By all that's… Sonic just gave god himself a bloody nose!" Hare managed to say as if he was unable to believe his own words.

Dark Spine Sonic grinned before launching into an offence once more. Not to be taken by surprise again, Solaris defended and the two of them engaged in what was unarguable a struggle between two forces of cosmic omnipotence.

It was far more than an assault of physical proportions but rather the fight resonated at frequencies that could be discerned with the visible eye. Yet they all felt the immensity of it and all of them, even Krish, were humbled by the sheer magnitude. Any notions any of them had about being better than others, more powerful, smarter, faster or stronger were nearly completely banished.

The battle continued, Solaris unlashing torrents of projectiles that when they struck exploded like a nuclear blast. Yet Dark Spine Sonic not only avoided them all but one he managed to reflect back to it struck Solaris directly in the face.

Unfazed, the god of time soared forth and lashed out with his talons; claws that were capable to shredding through space and time. The hedgehog avoided them with speed that should not have been physically possible.

"Truly he is a legend." Iapetus breathed with wide eyes. His son, Prometheus, nodded once.

"All ye gathered here, in this crux of space and time behold and wonder... for you gaze upon one who is unique. The Iblis Trigger, destinies chosen champion."

Solaris screeched, the sound like a bird of prey, before spreading his wings out wide and calling upon all the power he had to bear.

"Enough!" He started; his voice thick with the overtone of Mephiles.

Dark Spine Sonic glanced up and noticed that as his opponent was speak, the greenish overcoat which heretofore the hedgehog had thought as part of Solaris' body, was resonating slightly almost like a tuning fork.

"I will not risk my victory now!" The god held his claws high. "I will erase you from existence, Sonic! I will have you die with your mother on that ship, drowned and left at the bottom of the ocean! Everything you have ever done, everything you ever said, touched, felt, experienced… all memory of you will be bled from the universe itself!"

Solaris was in more than an adequate position to carry out his threat.

He reached out his claws as if to literally pick Sonic's mere existence out from reality like picking fruit from a branch.

Dark Spine Sonic flew in close with speed faster than any beam of light, slapping Solaris' massive hand down. The blow was more of a blow than a slap and Solaris screeched, jerking his hand back in pain. Dark Spine Sonic didn't stop there however and followed through with an upper cut into the bottom of the beak.

Solaris hovered back a short distance, swaying gently before he countered, flying in close; white rage burning in his being.

Dark Spine Sonic braced for an attack but did not expect the tide of power crashing against him. The sheer magnitude of it was so surprising that he was knocked back several hundred feet before he summoned his own now near limitless strength to counter it.

Solaris threw everything against him and it felt as if he was trying to hold off an exploding star, a supernova with all its force directed down at him.

Beads of sweet began to appear on his forehead as his arms strained. Solaris neared, inch by inch pushing more and power down upon his opponent; attempting to crush him beneath the titanic magnitude of it all.

For a terrible instant it appeared as if this sheer, undeniable force would smash Sonic and destroy him utterly.

Then, in a dramatic reversal, Dark Spine Sonic screamed out load and then summoning strength that the mortal mind would find it impossible to conceive he flew through the storm directly at Solaris; enduring the tidal wave, allowing it to smash on him.

Still he went on, flying directly into Solaris' chest. A punch connected with it, followed by another and another; each blow resonating like the toll of a bell.

Solaris gagged out, eyes wide and beak flung open. Slowly the green covering on his body began to crack, compromised with spidery lines spreading across its surface.

There were seven blows, each one connecting with tromendus force before the final blow shattered that green covering. It flew apart with the fragments cascading off in several directions.

When it broke, the entire unstable reality seemed to waver around them.

Solaris cried out, holding his arms to his head and shaking. His body rippled like the surface of a pond.

He and his reality he had created bent, twisting around as if someone was applying pressure on it before it finally snapped.

"Sonic!" Amy cried out as everything was suddenly engulfed in darkness.

There was a sudden lurching feeling and Dark Spine Sonic closed his eyes, unable to bear it.

When he opened his eyes he was met by a very welcome sight. The stars were back!

He glanced around, checking the stability of the universe around him. His senses, now so greatly enhanced he could sense the fabric of reality itself, scanned everything around him and found that indeed the time rift had been healed.

The Earth was back, the Eggmoon was back and even the Miracle Planet with its still open gate to Nexus was back. Everything was exactly how it had been when the rift had opened.

The ships from the battered fleet were still floating around him, shards and pieces of derbies falling into the orbit of the various large planetoids.

Linear time had been restored. Everything was back where it should be.

This was only a small victory. As much as Dark Spine Sonic wanted it, while that blow had been enough to stop Solaris from feasting on time, it would now have been enough to destroy him. With the amount of power at Solaris' disposal, the hedgehog doubted there was anything that could truly destroy him.

"Come on Solaris! Let's finish this!" He declared, his voice echoing out even through the airless vacuum of space.

As if an answer, there was a flash of powerful light from above and the hedgehog glanced up as out of the ether a shape began to form.

Returned to their original positions, those who had given Sonic the energy required to reach such a level looked up warily as Solaris remerged.

"None have matched my own power before." The being declared only this time the hint of Mephiles' own voice was weaker.

As it emerged, it revealed its own ultimate form. It was smaller than before in size but its power had leapt to unbelievable heights.

A pair of jagged, shard like golden wings folded out from a body made of pure gold. Every aspect of it had become streamlined, and instead of a tail it had armoured legs. Solaris had lost the horns and eagle like face and now took on the image of an angel. Directly in his chest were a heart should be, his body was strangely hollow and within this hole a large red orb was hovering. His head was featureless, save for a pair of glowing white eyes.

He had a profound sense of presence about Him as if there was no other presence more important. This was the creator of the universe, the deity responsible for existence.

"Well we all meet our equal at some point." Dark Spine Sonic said with a smirk despite it.

"I am not quite the being I was." Solaris admitted, looking distant for a moment. "There is…there is a dark aspect to myself that I know is not a part of my original."

"Yeah that would be Mephiles." The hedgehog told him. "Tried to stop him but he infected the body of Iblis with himself, dragging the Precious Stone along with him."

Solaris was silent for a moment as he folded his arms, looking deep in thought.

"I see." He said after a moment of contemplation. "I can feel him. He has spread to cover my mind almost completely. He is demanding that I destroy you and then continue to devour time." The angel looked up. "I however have no desire to do this. Yet his will is strong and now that he is inside of me I can not refuse him."

Dark Spine Sonic was hit by a powerful shockwave that knocked him back a couple of hundred feet before he was able to resist it, righting himself and flying forward to counterattack.

"Can't you resist him?" He asked as the two of them clashed, their blows shaking planets throughout the entire galaxy. "Surely his will is no match for yours."

Solaris swung at him, his arm unleashing a wave of energy that Dark Spine Sonic was only just able to dodge.

"If he were outside of me, yes." The Angel replied, before being knocked back as the hedgehog spun at him with tremendous force. "But as long as he is within he commands my actions."

The two of them clasped hands in a power struggle, trying to push the other back. The struggle was fought on more than the physical level. Their energies, godlike and super strong were clashing; fighting for dominance.

"He is my darkness." The hedgehog stated. "He is my responsibility." He looked Solaris right in the eye. "Let me into your form. Let me do battle with him on the inside."

"Sonic NO!" He could hear Amy's voice yelling at him from the inside of his head. With everyone's energy still compelling him, Sonic could hear their thoughts and they could hear his.

"If you do this Sonic, you will not be able to return." Prometheus warned him. From the surface of the Miracle Planet, they all watched up at the battle above.

"He is correct." Solaris added, hearing the voices himself. "Even if you succeeded then it is unlikely you would be able to emerge again. I can not guarantee your continued existence."

Here came the moment of that terrible choice.

The hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, widened his smile.

"So long guys. It's been a blast." He told everyone he was connected you. "And Amy… I'll always be with you."

On the bridge of the Typhoon, the pink hedgehog collapsed to her knees.

"Then so be it." Solaris said and his wings curved around them both. The light expanded from his angelic body and engulfed the hedgehog and in that instant, Sonic disappeared; his physical form fading away becoming light itself that Solaris drew inside him.

Solaris was motionless for a moment before he spread his wings up and dropped down; landing with a soft thud on a large piece of debris from a Confederation ship. Many were expecting him to attack them now that Sonic was no longer there to protect him. Instead, all he did was sit down and cross his legs. His arms spread out; cloven fingers arched as he closed his eyes and went into solemn mediation.

-

The inside of Solaris was a white void. No sky, no ground, no horizon. Just… white… forever.

It wasn't empty however. Sonic looked up towards his ultimate enemy. He had been reduced back to his regular blue form but for some reason he did not believe that mattered.

Mephiles was here, his back to him. The jagged crystalline hedgehog was aware of his presence that was clear.

"So here we are." Mephiles stated, slowly turning around to face Sonic. As he turned, his crystalline appearance began to fade away; each embedded rock flashing brightly before they vanished leaving Mephiles' true form exposed.

Sonic flinched slightly at the sight of his mirror image. Underneath his dark exterior, Mephiles was an exact copy of Sonic himself. He had the blue fur, the emerald green eyes; even the same gloves and shoes.

They were the exact same height and width too. Sonic suspected their bodies were identical down to the most insignificant detail.

"Which of us is real?" Sonic asked aloud. "Which of us is the real Sonic and which of us is the mere aspect?"

"And what gives you the impression that either of us is real?" Mephiles asked in response, slowly moving forward step by step. "Perhaps the two of us are both mere aspects and the real Sonic is something completely different."

Sonic grinned.

"Now that's a good question."

"It's a question that has haunted my being from the moment I awoke." Mephiles told him, picking up a little speed. "Am I real or am I not?" He burst into a full sprint, matching Sonic's legendary speed. "And that is why I must have Solaris' power! When time and space cease to exist whether I am real or not will not matter!"

When they struck, the two of them flash brightly and they both transformed at the same instant into Super Sonic.

"It won't do you any good Sonic." Mephiles stated. "Here, we are equal!"

They struck blows with each other as they tumbled, desperately trying to overpower each other in this savage contest.

At some point during this contest, their power burst to new heights and they became each Hyper Sonic. Their fur changing colour every second, they clashed over and over again for what seemed an eternity.

Forever, perhaps, the two of them engaged in this battle neither of them giving in even for an instant.

Then, Sonic slipped up by not defending when he should have and Mephiles gained the advantage. A punch slipped through knocked Hyper Sonic across the cheek and moving through, Hyper Mephiles laid his hand across the hedgehog's throat and slammed him hard to what could only be the ground.

"Think about it Sonic, imagine it for an instant." Mephiles hissed to him. "No more pain. No more tears. No more war. No more greed." His grip tightened threatening to choke Sonic. "No more death."

Lashing out, the hedgehog took hold of Mephiles' wrist and pushed him back.

"No more joy. No more happiness. No more bliss. No more love." His leg tensed itself. "No more life!"

The kick struck Mephiles' full in the stomach, knocking him back and giving Hyper Sonic the opening he needed.

"You are my demon, every negative aspect of me personified." Charging forth, he hammered a fist into Mephiles' face that stunned his copy. "You were created by my bitterness, by my hate, by my lies; both to others and to myself. Most of all you were created by my self denial."

"Wha…what are you saying?" Mephiles demanded, looking frightened for the first time.

"It's a decision I have been putting off for far too long." Sonic claimed. "You are and always will be a part of me. What made you so strong and wilful as the fact that I have been fighting you.

Its time I accepted all that I am and finally make that choice someone I love very much has been waiting for me to make." He smiled. "I love you Amy Rose."

Mephiles backed off, suddenly looking alarmed and awe struck.

There was a tremendous flash and Sonic's fur changed from blue to black with two white stripes up across his main quill, the eyes like those of a blind man, featureless; his entire body surrounded by a savage orange chi. Unable to withstand Dark Spine Sonic's presence, Mephiles backed off several steps shielding his eyes from the light.

"It's my choice."

With a rush, the golden hedgehog flew forward and unable to run all Mephiles could do was stand there as the white void sided with Sonic and he was engulfed.

Solaris pushed his eyes open.

He was silent for a moment before he stood back up. The dark stain at the centre of his heart sphere surged before contracting, moving backwards to a single point before it disappeared leaving it pure.

"It is over." He said simply and he spread his wings out wide. Everything was still watching, holding their breath as the being capable of destroying them with a thought rose up until he was hovering in orbit around the Earth.

Slowly Solaris held out his arms and held them there. One by one, the newly forged Super Emeralds appeared before him. Seven stones, combined forms of the Sol Emeralds, the Chaos Emerald and the Master Emerald.

Solaris clapped his hands once and by the degree of his power, the Super Emeralds separated into their components. Seven emeralds became fifteen.

Gesturing down to the Earth, Solaris sent the Chaos Emeralds in different directions; scattering them across the surface of the planet; each one flying off like glittering stars until they disappeared through cloud cover.

Solaris studied the Master Emerald intently for a moment, smiled, then sent the large gemstone down towards the Earth as well.

It soured down through the atmosphere, through clouds and rain until it fell directly on top of the grounded Angel Island. Landing directly on top of the shrine, the Master Emerald hovered above it from a brief moment.

By the degree of Solaris, the decay the Shrine had undergone over the years undid itself. Weeds and shrubs receded, fragments flew back together and ancient pillars reset themselves. Water filled each level of the stone monument and within seconds it was overflowing with lush life.

Once this transformation was partly completely, the Master Emeralds settled back into its old position and the roof of the shrine formed directly over it.

"Restored…" Solaris muttered and his eyes flashed brightly.

Connecting itself to the land around, Angel Island seemed to grow in size. As if tripling itself as the Island rose it tore up a huge chunk of land around it. It left a crater as it rose; which seawater rushed in to fill.

The giant landmass rose higher and higher, moving up beyond the clouds until it was once again resting on a sea of endless sky.

Now with only the Sol Emeralds left, Solaris regarded them curiously as if deciding what to do with them. It was then that he noticed the Miracle Planet, now drifting in orbit around the Earth.

The Gate to Nexus was still open.

Solaris shook his head and raised a finger, jabbing the tip directly towards the horrible looking opening in reality.

The jagged outline of the gate buckled instantly before caving in, crashing down on itself. The vortex within the gate dissipated with a loud thunder like crack and the porthole completely collapsed, the towers caving in and collapsing until the entire thing had been demolished.

The shockwave from the closing gate spread out through space and the Earth's own unstable inter-dimensional position was knocked sideways and back into dimensional stability, although Solaris did help with that. Now none would be able to use Earth's unique nature to crack open Nexus again.

The Miracle Planet also received that affect, its own warping abilities nullified. No long would it warp from reality to reality, now it was fixed.

"Better." Solaris stated looking a little more pleased. Then he looked down at the planet, more directly at the Titaness Rhea. "Its time Rhea. Your mother told you, did she not?" He asked.

Down below, Rhea heard the god and nodded once solemnly. She who had been Queen Illumina turned and looked back at her people. She smiled at them.

"Void." She began and the small Seedrian looked up. "It's your turn now."

"My... turn?" He repeated. "My turn to do what?"

"To rule." She told him and watched with glee at the stunned awe on his face. "My time has past and it now your dawn. Lead our people in a new age." She turned away and started walking directly towards the giant hole in the small planet.

Although the gate had been destroyed it had left a giant ugly blemish on the surface of the Miracle planet.

Summoning the attention of the Sol Emeralds, Solaris directed them down towards the Miracle planet and they obeyed, flying down towards the small world like comets.

"My queen!" Lumina Flowlight started. "Please, wait… don't leave us!"

Rhea looked back but did not stop. She raised a hand at them warmly.

"Oh I'm not leaving." She replied. "I simply won't be able to lead you. I will continue to look after you as I have always done. Its time I join my mother."

Promethus watched her go, his face going slightly pale. Iapetus made a move to go after her but his son held out his arm and shook his head.

"Don't." He said simply and the titans watched as the Sol Emeralds, flying down towards the small world, smashed into the ruins of the gate as directed and as they did so, their energy unleashed a chain reaction.

The foliage from the rest of the very green miniature world poured over the dark cracks, growing super fast coming together directly in the centre. Rhea disappeared in that mass as if she had never been there.

At the centre, where the combined power of the seven Sol Emeralds met, it gave life to a massive tree.

It was so large that the tree could be seen from space and even from the surface of the Earth. Its three massive roots spread far and wide until it had the entire planet in almost a fist like grasp.

"Am I seeing things or is that the Yggdrasil?" Silver asked looking stunned.

The tree continued growing, outward as well as upward until its thick giant branches were casting shadows over the Miracle Planet. Then it stopped growing and the transformation stopped; the scar made by the gate now healed.

The Seedrian people fell on their knees in something that could only be religious exultation, for they could feel that the tree had been their previous queen, transformed as her mother Gaia had been into a tree.

Void stood there, looking up at the tree with a strange expression on his face.

"There." Solaris muttered to himself. "The rest of the damage can be mended by mortal hands. It is time for me to sleep once more."

"Wait!" A voice cried out. Solaris glanced down again at the planet as Prometheus stood forth.

"If you separate into Iblis and the Precious Stone again, what is to stop someone else from attempting to resurrect and merge with you?" He asked.

Solaris considered this, looking thoughtful.

"But yet I can not be awake." He stated, thinking aloud. "For there will always be those to seek my power and it will lead only to ruin."

"Then leave." Prometheus told him. "Leave reality."

Solaris paused.

"Leave reality?" Tails repeated, looking to Chuck for some explanation.

"Well…" The human started, blinking several times looking confused. "I remember reading about this scientific concept in an old science journal. It theorizes that existing outside our reality and all other dimensional realms is something like an...an outer realm…an ether, like that reality that we just experienced.

But it's only a theory…"

Solaris looked the ancient titan over, remaining silent for a suspended moment before he turned to face them completely.

"There is truth in what you say." He replied. "So be it." I will go and be apart from this universe forever. What you make of it, is now your own burden. That is the gift I… and Sonic, have given you."

Without another word, Solaris waved his arm and behind him a gate swung open in normal space. It was like a hole that emitted tremendous light like a small sun before Solaris past through and disappeared.

Then the god was gone and the only sound was the sobbing Amy who couched on the ground.


	77. Final Episode, part 1

S.O.N.I.C GO!

S.O.N.I.C GO!

GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO

Final Episode: The Legendary Hedgehog

-

* * *

The formal end to the war came when representatives of the Imperial Guard of Feson, The Combined Federation and the Falcon Admiralty met on Earth to a peace conference. Representatives from the Black Arms, whatever remains of human governments, the displaced Reptilian refuges and the Nordic felines were also present during the conference and after about an hour of negotiations a compromise was reached.

Earth was given back to its people, with a full apology from the Empire of Feson and compensation in the way of assistance in the rebuilding of their cities. Whatever humans could be found that were taken as slaves were turned to their home world.

All worlds conquered by the now demolished Confederation were returned to their rightful owners and Fesonian ships were recalled back across the badlands.

New peace treaties were signed by the President of the Federation and the newly crowned Emperor Baal of Feson, as well as a pact of non-aggression between the Black Arms and the mainstream of Fesonian society.

The refugees from the destroyed planet Hydra were given permission to share the planet Mars with the Black Arms. The terraformed planet has more than enough room and was the appropriate climate for their mutual reptilian bodies.

The felines, still lacking a home of their own, elected to be the first to colonise the strange abnormal Miracle Planet that now drifted in orbit around the Earth.

Blaze the Cat and her newly appointed confidant Silver the hedgehog lead the felines up in a borrowed shuttle and settled in the small planet's northern hemisphere.

Another set of displaced people, the Seedrians now homeless after the collapse of Maginaryworld retreated to the Miracle Planet as well and settled in the south under the new leadership of Void and his new partner Lumina Flowlight. Iapetus declined leadership when it was offered, preferring to absolves himself in the quiet life of intellectual pursuits.

Ships from all interested parties were gathered in orbit. Federation Predator ships parked peacefully right alongside a Confederation Ymir; it was truly a sight to behold.

Shadow had watched reports come in over the ARK's monitor system occasionally. The Conference was almost over and it seemed that this would mark the end of galactic wide hostilities. 

Shadow had been one of the few not attending or even keeping up with it word for word. He felt fairly sure of the outcome and he had a million other things to do.

After some thinking and a few discussions with Maria, Shadow had come to a decision. The Space Colony ARK had been vacant for too long. It was time to open it again, make it the space colony it was meant to be rather than a long lost weapons depot.

Moving the colony into higher orbit to avoid collisions with the new orbiting body, Shadow set above removing the colony's offensive weapons. Hired Combine Federation teams were working now for that very purpose.

One of those weapons however Shadow was going to take care of himself right now.

The dark hedgehog raised a hand; fingers outstretched. He clenched a fist after gathering some energy and then once that reached its peek, he thrust the fist down hard.

"Chaos Blast!" The discharge of power shot down through the metallic food, feeding down through the entire length of the Eclipse Cannon. The flower shaped weapon shook with the force of ten earthquakes, parts of it splintering off and shattering. Flames engulfed it from the inside out and with a tremendous bang it was blown clear off the colonies structure.

The remains floated a short distance in utter silence before it detonated; the light from the explosion illuminating the colony and could be seen from the Earth.

"There." Shadow muttered, taking in a deep breath; the screen of his space suit fogging up. "It's done." All that remained now of one of the universe' most deadly weapons was now a large molten scar on the face of the colony and that could be fixed given a little elbow grease.

"Very nice." A voice in the suits communicator began. "Ever think of going into the demolition business?"

Shadow managed a smirk.

"Not my style Tikal." He replied. "Chaos Control!" In a flash of green, he vanished; moving underneath normal space and remerging almost instantly within the colony. He arrived in one of the repaired control centres which now was bustling with activity. Hundreds of Reptilians, humans from both Earth and the Federation were now planning on making the ARK their home.

Shadow pulled out the head covering and took in a long breath from the better tasting air within the colony.

"Construction crews moving in sir, they'll have the debris cleared by tomorrow." A human reported, coming up to the hedgehog with a clipboard. "And we can start building the scheduled botanical centre directly afterward. We're expecting delivery of the plants and animals within a few weeks."

Shadow nodded once and removed the rest of his spacesuit.

"Good. Notify me as soon as they arrive." He discarded the suit and walked away. "I'm going down to Earth for a short while. Keep to the schedule." The human saluted in response.

"Yes Sir." He replied. Shadow chuckled once and moved through an open doorway to the metallic corridor outside. The notion of being called 'sir' was faintly amusing to him.

Waiting for him there, in a very sexy looking uniform Shadow noted, as Tikal. She had tied her dreadlocks back behind her head and was even wearing lipstick and eye shadow. She had complete ditched the Mayan look and now with an ear phone she had something a futuristic theme.

Shadow smiled. It suited her.

"The President of the Combined Federation just sent us an IM." She told him, cupping her hands behind her back.

"I guess that means the Conference is over." Shadow replied, walking alongside her past dozens of people running back and forth too busy to talk. Tikal nodded.

"Since Earth is now such a jumble of cultures, peoples and societies it's been granted its own governmental status. They're calling it the United Republic of Multi-cultural Earth or U.R.M.E for short."

Shadow let out a short laugh.

"Much better. And what about G.U.N?"

"They've survived. Become the official name of the republic military. They're not a governing force anymore, although Mandarin is still their commander."

"Bah, old war horse." Shadow tried for friendly banter but his tone wavered a little. He still felt shaky when it came to Mandarin. The G.U.N commander had taken something from him in their confrontation, something that before had been his driving force.

That fierceness, iron clad and rigid, was gone. Shadow no longer felt himself bound to be dark and contemplative. It felt as if he'd been freed, a heavy burden finally lifted off his shoulders.

"Ah Shadow, good of you to FINALLY answer my calls." Dr. Eggman was there on the large screen when Shadow came into the control centre.

The Doctor had changed dramatically. He had lost quite a lot of weight over the last few months, leaving him looking strangely saggy until his skin could recede back to accommodate for the sudden lack of fat.

The man's moustache was still as large as ever and bristled widely as he spoke. His wide round spectacles gleamed in the light.

The newest cosmetic change the Doctor seemed to be trying was a shock of hair on the top of the head that had previously been bald, an item that could only be a toupee.

"I've been busy." Shadow replied. "Well, how are things going?"

"Reasonably well, considering my lack of man power." Eggman stated, rubbing his hands before him. "The Egg Guardian will be fully repaired before the end of the weak and once I had its factory capabilities back online, I can begin the transport of resources. I trust your people are ready."

"We were ready two days ago." Shadow informed them with levelled eyebrows. "I thought Metal Sonic was going to help you?"

The Doctor made a sour face.

"That turncoat abandoned me." He proclaimed sounded exasperated. "And he took all my elite robots!"

Shadow's face was alight with mirth.

"Don't you start!" Eggman warned him wagging a finger forward. "That bastard took them all! Gamma, Theta, Metal Knuckles and Egg Robo! All of them, they all took off to serve him!"

"Well he did always want to start up his Machine Federation again."

Eggman groaned.

"Oh the last thing I want is to deal with Metal X again."

"I think we can trust Metal Sonic enough now to assume he's not going to be as hostile as he was before."

"If it's all the same to you, I think I'll use the Fesonian intelligence service to keep watch on him. I'd rather not have him reverting back to villainy on us."

"Oh, well you'd know."

"Oh ha ha."

Eggman smiled and then coughed, his expression turning serious.

"You'll… be there today?"

Shadow pressed his lips together, remembering that unpleasant task that was to befall them all later.

"Yes, I'll be there. I'm set to be one of the speakers."

"I'll be there as well. Although the way people on Earth feel about me, I may have to go incognito."

"Their feelings are justified you know." Shadow reminded him.

"Yes… yes I know." The Doctor sounded sincerely regretful.

"Well, if you're going to be in a disguise, at least do better than that wig." Shadow remarked, trying to lighten the mood by gesturing to the thing atop the Doctor's head.

Eggman smiled.

"Oh this isn't a wig my friend." He told him. He tugged at the hairs for display and Shadow's eyes widened. They were indeed fixed to his scalp. "The kind of science you can find out in space in remarkable. I took a little peek at Com-Fed medical technology and ….BAM… instant baldness cure."

Shadow chuckled.

"Sell that on Earth and you'll be rich."

"I'm already a viceroy to Emperor Baal of the United Fesonian Empire, I can't get much more rich than that."

After the Black Doom had been slain, his puppet, the Doom's eye had died with him. The Imperial guard, leading their rebellion back to Feson itself, had landed with a minimal of resistance and captured the planet. The Prime minister surrendered and the new government was quickly erected.

Admiral Baal had been promoted to Emperor and Eggman of course had risen into a seat of power higher than any he had had before.

"You will keep an open dialogue with me once I return to Feson, yes?" The Doctor asked.

"As long as you don't broadcast it. I might have trouble explaining communications with a wanted criminal to the authorities."

With a hearty laugh, Eggman logged off.

Shadow sank into a chair and folded his legs. He rarely needed sleep but the colony had needed a lot of work and even with his massive work force, the load of work was killing him.

Tikal walked behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"You need rest." She told him flatly and in a tone that would tolerate no argument.

"I'd rather get through today before I do." He told her anyway. Her grip on his shoulders tightened a little.

"Oh no Shadow. You're going to go get some sleep, even if its only for an hour or two."

Shadow was about to say something back and without warning, the early warning alarm began to go off. Red slights replaced the normal lighting throughout the colony and loud sirens blared angrily.

Shadow stood up so sharply that he nearly head butted Tikal as he looked around, trying to figure out what was happening.

"Sir, we have a security breach." One of his officers further down the room announced, his arms on the command console. "We're registering a hull rupture on the loading levels. I'm bringing up security footage."

There was s short buzz and a holographic display from the security monitors down in the lower levels of the colony appeared. There was a smoke everywhere and dozens of people were running for their lives, crying out in alarm and terror. The ground shook as heavy foot steps came down hard.

The smoke parted and there was the slight outline of a shape, with horns, spikes down the back and bat like wings, before the camera went out completely.

The dark hedgehog froze.

"It's landed in the F-4 cargo bay! Security has it surrounded."

"Recall them." Shadow told him only to have half a dozen people turned to stare at him with wide eyes. "Have them erect a perimeter… but you leave THIS thing to me."

"Shadow…" Tikal started. The dark hedgehog shot her a friendly smile.

"Don't worry. If I'm reading his actions right they'll be a minimum of fighting."

He left her with an intensely confused expression on her face.

As Shadow ran through the colony, a dozen thoughts and feelings ran through his mind at once. This was a confrontation he had been putting off for a while now and now it appeared he had grown tired of waiting.

As two corridors joined into one, Shadow found himself running alongside Maria. In her new body, she was just as fast as him and when she noticed him, she looked up at him with a very clear expression.

She was worried, concern deep in her blue eyes.

"It's him isn't it?" She asked. Shadow nodded once. "What do we do?"

"Hopefully nothing." He replied. "This is an age of new beginnings… I just hope HE realises it."

It wasn't much of a security perimeter and even if it had been reinforced with the best G.U.N itself had to offer, they couldn't hold this monster back.

The demon turned to face the two hedgehogs as they walked; side by side, past the thick row of Ark security forces. Scrapping his claws along the metal ground, Krish Kra Pal slowly advanced; his long spike ended tail wishing back and forth behind him.

Shadow stared the Destroyer right in the eye with an unwavering, unblinking gaze and Maria only reinforced it.

Krish's lips pushed themselves into a grim smile and he straightened his back, rising a good couple of dozen feet to tower cover them; blocking out the light from above and shadowing them.

"Here I am Shadow, just as you expecting." Krish Kra Pal started. "Or am I wrong?"

Shadow shook his head slightly.

"No... I knew you'd come." The dark hedgehog replied, before casting Maria a short glance. "We both did." The security cameras were capturing this stand off and image displays were being broadcast all over the colony. The Ark citizens were watching with bated breath and from just behind the barricade. Tikal was holding her breath refusing to let it out.

"The cursed blood of your vampire friend has given me strength and speed the likes of which I had not never known in my previous form." Krish told them and flexed his shoulders; spreading his new bat like wings out from their sheaths on his back. "In this state, I am more than a match for anyone. With Sonic, Solaris, Mephiles and Black Doom now gone I am now the most powerful being alive!" His tone was gloating.

He arched the talons on one hand and created an orb of glowing green energy, alit with intensely hot emerald fire.

"I could destroy this entire colony! Or send it crashing into the Earth, creating a nuclear winter that would leave it a barren lifeless tomb!" The Destroyer's eyes where alight with sadistic glee. "I could hunt you all down, one by one and crush your bodies into red pulp! Laughing as you begged for your pathetic lives!" The sphere of green first doubled in size. "I could rend planet after planet lifeless, exterminate entire species and bring this galaxy to its knees!"

Instantly Shadow and Maria adopted a sharp fighting stance, side by side mirroring each other; their form flawless.

"The two of you are strong, but you're not that strong." Krish stated without even looking at them. "I have surpassed you both in power. You wouldn't last a minute against me and you both know it."

Still however the two hedgehog's kept their stances, not budging an inch. Seeing their defiance, Krish reared his head back and laughed; moving the large pincers on either side of his mouth out wide almost in an imitation of a stag beetle.

For a single moment it looked as if he would hurl the attack, but at the last second Krish recalled it and the sphere shrank until it vanished completely.

"But that would start another war and right now I am not in the mood." He took a few steps back so he wasn't completely violating their personal space; his heavy footsteps shaking the ground. "Destroying worlds and massacring peoples requires something of an artistic flare and I'm simply too tired."

Shadow and Maria shot each other another a glance then slowly drew out of their stances but keeping their guard up.

"I said I'd put what happened on the Ark behind me." The dark hedgehog muttered without looking at Krish. "And that I forgive those responsible and although it pains me… that includes you." He half inclined his head. "Go, leave here and none will know you any malice."

Krish's smile managed to wide itself a little, showing the jagged teeth.

"Well now that is gracious of you." He stated. "I had contemplated attending the funeral of our mutual hedgehog acquaintance, but something tells me that my presence would be somewhat inappropriate. Please do give my regards."

"Any just where are you going?" Maria asked not letting him out of her sight even for a second.

"Being trapped, even if for a short while, inside the Precious Stone and the Master Emerald afforded me a new clarity." Krish explained looking thoughtful for a second. "The experience stretched my memories across my being as being laid plain for me to see. Every recall right from my earliest days as a child right up until Sonic defeated me.

It brought something to my attention which I, admittedly, overlooked." He turned and looked directly at the stars just beyond the force-field keeping the vacuum of space out of the cargo bay. "I have not been home in a very, very long time."

Shadow and Maria paused.

"Using your calendar as a base, I estimate that I have not set foot on the planet Feson for over nine thousand years."

"A long time to be away from home." Maria stated and to Shadow's surprise there was a touch of sympathy in her voice.

"Indeed so." Krish agreed. "I left Feson as a prince, due to lead the legions in battle on a planet where we expected the Black Arms to be hiding. They captured me, mutating my body to further their own genetics technology. Then when I broke loose and turned on them they dissolved my physical form, casting me into Nexus where they prayed I would remain for all time.

Then after so long I finally managed to recreate my body… and even though it was destroyed by you and Sonic, I was still able to make another just as easily." He flexed his muscles a little as if to show off. "And so, instead of continuing this pointless fight with you, I am going to take a vacation."

"A what?" Shadow asked with sudden wide startled eyes.

"It's been a long time but I imagine that the southern long sand islands are still there on Feson. I used to go there when I was a boy with…" Krish paused suddenly looking distant. "...with my brother."

"The Dooms Eye." Shadow muttered.

"His real name was Galk-Tri-Pal. My brother, the real emperor and not the puppet controlled by the Black Doom, was my better in every conceivable way. He was smarter, stronger, faster and more respected. I will never see him again now." The demon turned away and moved to face the opening as if readying himself to leave.

"You're making the same mistake I made." The dark hedgehog told him and Krish paused. "Living in the past, unable to escape from it."

Krish chuckled.

"Oh I'm not living in the past. There are bound to have been many changes over the years and I want to see each and every one." His wings snapped out wide. "Once I have catalogued them then I will rest…a long rest yes… maybe a couple of centuries rest. Then if I feel like blowing up someone's planet…" Krish shrugged his shoulders, the action pushing his wings out completely. "Perhaps I'll come back here for a little fun."

"And I'll be right here to stop you." Shadow replied sternly. That, apparently, was the answer Krish was hoping to hear.

"You never fail to disappoint. Farewell Shadow. Perhaps we'll meet again in a couple of lifetimes."

And then he was gone, teleporting past the shield using his newly acquired talents of Chaos Control and flying off; disappearing into the black reaches of space.

"This new peace is built a lot on trust." Maria began slowly. "But do we really trust him?"

-

* * *

"Man this place is a mess." Vector muttered, placing his hands on his hips. He glanced out across the piles of papers and boxes of other useless miscellaneous nonsense that for some reason Espio insisted was utterly vital. The new office was a little smaller than their old pent house in New York but since New York was currently undergoing a great deal of renovation 'in fact a complete renovation as the city had been pretty much reduced to smouldering rubble during the conflicts', they had had to move into this new one.

"Well, I'd best start putting the equipment together." The crocodile muttered to himself, jumping over the piles of paper to get to a large set of boxes.

He paused, wondering where the guys would want to put the computers. Beck had set aside a room before it but Vector had forgotten where that was. "Hey guys, can you help me find the computer room?"

Charmy floated past the window and leaned on the side, looking in.

"I'm not sure I like this place Vector." He stated, flapping his wings lazily. "It's too quiet, too…too green."

For all purposes, Charmy was a street kid; having spent most of his time in the big cities and on the busy streets of metropolitan areas. A new, quieter land like this was simply too much of a change for him to accept quickly.

"You'll get used to it." Vector assured him. "Besides, we get more business here, more access to the galaxy rely stations so we can get cases from any planet we want."

"Only because YOU didn't return that space ship like you said you would." Charmee reminded him with level eyebrows.

Vector paused.

"Oh yeah…" Now he remembered that he did… sort of… promise that sooner or later he'd return the red spaceship that he'd taken from the depot on Planet Chimera. "Ah I'm sure that guy's got more important things to worry about than where ONE insignificant ship went."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that Vector." Espio announced, coming by the open far door. The chameleon had a piece of paper in his hand and his eyes were glancing over it as he walked. "We just got a deep space communication. Seems that Lieutenant General Darion on Chimera is conducting an investigation into pirating of vessels in and around the planet."

Vector went pale, remembering the large Riggarcial lizard commander who ran security for the Com-Fed planet. The man was a lizard twice his size with strength and curiosity to match. He was a freelance detective's worst nightmare.

"Well, I know one planet we won't be visiting in a while." The crocodile muttered nervously, rubbing his hands. "Ok, what are you too standing around here for? We've got to get this place organised before Vanilla gets back."

Beck lounged outside the small house, glancing up into the blue sky. It still felt odd here. Everything was exactly the same like back on Earth, green ground, blue sky yet this planet was far smaller so you could see it curve.

Plus, being able to see the Earth in the sky above, even through the atmosphere and during the day was scary and a little daunting and gave the entire place a distorting sense of gravity.

Still, it was nice here, a paradise untouched by industry and settlement.

Various groups had decided to make sure it stayed that way so the Miracle planet had been declared something of an area of natural importance and only those who were already there were allowed to set up any living places.

"Wonder what kinda shit this is going to do to Earth's gravity, having this baby for a satellite?" He asked out load, giving a half glance down towards Rei. The flying squirrel sat there in the long grass staring up at the sky as well. "Probably screw with tides."

Rei simply murmured an affirmative response, keeping his eyes fixed on the sky.

"Rei, what's the matter, you haven't said a word for hours now." Beck stated, sitting up properly and glancing over. Rei keep his gaze fixed on the sky.

"The funeral's today." He muttered. "You didn't forget did you?"

Beck rolled his eyes.

"Of course I haven't forgotten." He stated. "I was trying to take my mind off it."

"Oh." Rei started. "Sorry."

The two of them were relatively need recruits to Chaotix, considering how long the group had actually been around… but their adventures over the last few years had made them bond as a group and now they were not so much colleges but family. Beck found himself praising the day he answered that add in the newspaper.

"Hey yo yo yo, … this is Piranha coming at you galaxy bound people out there from the new planet where its all happening, Earth!" A radio was left turned on in the kitchen window of the small house. The radio host had a strange near Jamaican voice but with a guttural dialect that sounded as if he was part fish. "Welcome to mah new station, legitimate and funded my friends! Yes you're humble DJ is no longer flying the pirate flag but it ain't changing mah standards friends, nosir! I aim to bring you the uncensored truth and the best tunes in the universe!

Its all happin; here. Earth is dah place ta be dudes and I am in the thick of it. Not only is the Galactic Grand Prix going to be held here but we got major industries but the bucket load turning up to open up shop. Pretty soon we're gonna have a technologies industrial rival… so watch out there you people on Chimera!"

Charmy turned the radio off and looked out the window. Vanilla, Cream and their robotic self appointed guardian Emerl were coming down the foot beaten path towards the house.

The fever that had gripped her in the Confederation's slave pit had broken some months ago but it had left her weak. It had taken her some time to regain her strength yet now she felt herself with grace as she walked. Tucked under one arm was a basket filled with the shopping she needed for dinner.

Beside her, Cream, now growing into her early teens was quickly outgrowing the impression of the little girl most had about her. She had gained at least six inches in height and her shape was becoming less like that of a child.

Emerl never changed. Metal, wires and circuitry did not grow or adapt and so his skeletal black form remained as it was.

Dropping whatever he was doing into Espio's unsuspecting hands, Vector strode out to meet her; his chest puffed out a little as he walked. Charmy was finding it hard not to giggle.

Vector had an excuse for this kinda of behaviour now. While Vanilla had never actually uttered the words 'I do' there was now a quiet understanding between the two of them. This went beyond merely living in the same house and it was clearly visible to all whenever the two of them were together now. It started with the simple holding of hands and very swiftly graduated to hugs, massages and Espio feared what is crescendo would be. The image of half-crocodile half-bunnie children occasionally haunted his nightmares.

"We're almost done here." Vector told her as she looked up at him. "Another few days and we'll have the place all done up."

Vanilla nodded at him once and smiled sweetly.

"Vanilla…." The crocodile started with a sudden sullen look on his face. "I know that perhaps… I shouldn't ask this now after everything that's happened but…"

"Let's get through today first, ok honey?" She asked, cupping the end of his snout in her hand. "Tomorrow we'll talk about the future." The way she suggestively patted the end of his scaly nose left a deliriously happy expression on Vector's face.

Charmy made a disgusting gagging sound

"Oh, before I forget." She reached into her basket and withdrew an envelope from underneath her groceries. She handed it to Vector. It was unmarked, only Vector's name was there on the front in joined up handwriting.

"Who's this from?" He asked. Vanilla shrugged.

"No idea." She replied. "It was waiting there at Blaze's castle when I arrived."

Vector looked the nondescript envelope over before sliding a finger through the opening and putting out the letter. He read a few lines at the top of the page and his eyes suddenly grew hard and flinty.

"It's from Fang." He state in a cold yet strangely neutral tone. Espio and Charmy crowded around him as he started reading out the letter.

"Dear Chaotix, the bumbling agency.

Over the last few years a lot has happened to both of us. You have your future and I have mine. Perhaps we might be able to let it go at that. I intend to end this feud between the two of us if you might afford me the same curtsey."

Espio's expression was very cold. He had still not forgiven the Weasel for the death of his old friend, Might the Armadillo.

"I now run a legitimate business on Earth." Vector continued reading. "I was able to gain control of the old Casino's that Eggman once used to raise funds for himself and I've turned it into my own gambling empire. I fully expect that before too long, more than half of Central City will be within my Casino Night Zone. I'm going to become a rich and powerful man and it would be within my abilities to have you removed.

This is why I offer you this opportunity. Leave me alone and I will keep my business legitimate. No backroom deals, no mafia dealings and no back alley killings.

As I have said, our futures are both before us and the past is gone. I am content with that. Are you?" The letter ended on that ominous question and Vector read it again in his mind, scowling the whole time.

"Do you think he's sincere?" Rei asked. "About the truce?"

Vector shook his head.

"No, not for an instant. That Weasel's had his fingers in so many pies over the years, he has a different flavour for each one. He might TRY to stay out of trouble but the temptation will be too much for him."

"Can we even confirm this Casino Night he's taking about." Beck asked. Vector nodded.

"I knew someone was putting together a Casino district down on Earth, taking advantage of the open galactic market and extraterrestrial tourists. Fang's got the skills needed for that kinda work and its suits his modus operandi."

There was a moment of silence.

"So what do we do about it?" Charmy was the first to ask.

"Nothing." Espio stated. "Revenge is a sucker's game and I while I will never forgive that weasel for what he did, if he wants to leave it at this then so am I."

Vector rolled and rolled up the piece of paper in his hands.

"I guess that answers that then." He sounded resigned. "Of course… that doesn't mean however that we turn our brains off. Sooner or later, Fang's going to revert. We're going to have to keep an eye on him."

"I'd rather not go looking for an excuse to go after him." Espio said but then he smiled. "But if he slips up…

"…then Chaotix will be there." Vector finished form him firmly.

* * *

-

Cosmo pushed the new windows she had set open, letting the fresh breeze come in to fill the room. She took in a deep breath and then sighed. The sun was shining and the sky was completely clear. The air was much more cold than Maginaryworld but it was still far better than the stagnant atmosphere of Nexus so she would not complain.

The Typhoon would fly no more. The engines had been torn to pieces during the battle with Iblis and they were now beyond the repair. Tails however, who had put his heart and soul into creating this vessel, could not leave her to rot in a scrap yard. Instead the ship, even now ruined it laid the coast of the newly named Silver Sea of the Miracle Planet. It had become a house and workshop.

Of course that meant moving most of the equipment he had left behind in his old workshop. Tails had spent some time in that old shattered place, simply thinking and remembering, before he started actually transporting anything.

It was the workshop sitting on a cliff from the Mystic Ruins overlooking Station Square, or rather where Station Square had once been. The city had been reduced to ruins over the years and now it was almost completely reclaimed by nature.

Tails was entertaining visitors. They had arrived early with morning and had stayed for breakfast. They were all old friends and their visit was welcome and it stated the clear day off well, considering how dark they knew it was going to get soon.

"What on Earth are you drinking?" Tails asked, wrinkling his nose at the golden brew that Hare was holding high in an iron tankard.

"Mead." Hare replied simply and took another swig. "Brewed by the felines in the north. Proper booze, right out of the middle ages." He cringed slightly, feeling the after affects of the extremely strong drink. "Ahh…" He sighed. "Now that's the stuff."

"You're drinking now?" Knuckles asked with a raised eyebrow. "Its only ten AM."

"There is never a bad time for a good drink." The rabbit told them in an almost pious tone. "Especially if those northerners brew it."

"They're corrupting you." Tails informed him mockingly. Hare grinned from ear to ear and raised the tankard.

"Let them."

Leaving the rabbit to his early morning consumption of alcohol, Knuckles turned to his younger fox friend.

"You seem to have settled in here just fine." He stated, looking around at the makeshift kitchen. The ship had been utterly ruined in the crash but enough of the structure remained to make it comfortable living space. Their kitchen had been carved out to the mess hall and the left over equipment had been salvaged to a certain extent so it retained that general familiar shape.

Cosmo had gone about adopting some more homely touches, along with a few bits and pieces Tails suspected were influenced by Seedrian architecture. Still these embellishments did add stability to the crashed vessel and a sense of permanence to it that Tails found reassuring so he let it pass without word.

"Parts of the vessel are no go areas." Tails replied with a sigh. "The engines were blown off in orbit and I think they might be up there still." He cast an eye towards a hole in the ceiling that let a shaft of natural light fall in. "The lowers decks are crushed and I'm going to have to clear them away, but I'll get that done later." He appeared suddenly melancholy.

This was his ship. He'd put his heat and sole into making this. True, it hadn't been possible without Eggman's help but the design had been his alone. It would have been sad to simply clear away the ship completely. That sentimentality had been, in part, behind the decision to make the ship into a house.

"What about your home? Angel Island certainly underwent some changes." He asked. Knuckles nodded once and folded his arms.

"Solaris' alteration changed the landscape there dramatically. I've more land than I know what to do with and the Master Emerald seemed to be keeping it up without any difficulty at all. He made it god damn difficult to get to the shrine though."

"Why, what happened?" Hare asked.

"It sank."

"Sank?"

"Went down, you do know what the word 'sank' means don't you or do I have to fetch a dictionary?" Knuckles sounded irritated. "It descended right down beneath a mountain that now stands at the centre of the island. It's actually quite beautiful now, in a large cavern surrounded by crystalline shards; all different colours."

Hare raised an eyebrow.

"So what's the problem?"

"It's also surrounded by lava."

"Lava?!"

"You know; molten rock." Tails began.

"Oh not you as well?" Hare asked, putting his tankard down hard on the table.

"A small lake of it, kept hot by the emerald's presence I think." The Echidna added.

"Well that certainly makes it hard for intruders to get there." Tails ventured.

"I need to get there though!" Knuckles pointed out. "It's a near two day trek through those caverns of the Hidden Palace to get to the shrine now. I'm digging a tunnel to take me down there directly but its slow going. One mistake and I'll have lava pouring down on top of me."

"Hidden palace?" Tails repeated looking puzzled. Knuckles shuddered, realizing he had used the name without intending to.

"Oh it's… it's Rouge, she keeps coming up with names for the places on the island. Some of them are a little silly."

"Such as?" Hare asked.

"Well she calls the crystal shrine the Hidden Palace like I said… and the caverns of lava surrounding it Lava Reef."

"Catchy." Hare said. "Nice names for the tourism trade."

"Oh the last thing I want are tourists on the island." Knuckles moaned.

"Oh come on Knuckles, isn't it just a bit selfish to keep that big island all to yourself?"

The red Echidna coughed a little nervously.

"Well, I'm not going to be keeping it all to myself." He stated. "I er… I am expecting company there."

"Oh?" Tails asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "Who?"

Knuckles looked even more nervous.

"A few of the Riggarcial who didn't want to settle on Mars, a few people from Com-Fed and one or two Seedrians. I gave them permission to settle there, on the understanding they defer to my authority when it comes to matters of the island's environment."

There was something in his tone of voice that suggested that he wasn't telling them everything.

"And?" Hare asked probingly, leaning forward. Knuckles turned an even darker shade of red.

There was a moment of silence as he gathered courage and then in a single instant he blurted it out.

"Rouge and I are getting married."

Tails gagged on his coffee and then staggered, trying to waft out the hot burn it had left on his tongue.

"Say whaaaaat?!" Hare asked; his jaw dropping.

"The ceremony's going to be an Echidna style event. It'll take place in a month." Knuckles replied absently.

"That's not what I meant!!!" Hare nearly shouted.

"Oh what can be said?" The Echidna asked. "I love her. There, I said it in public, are you happy?"

Tails and Hare sat there with stunned expressions clear on their faces.


	78. Finale Episode, part 2

-

Cosmo held a hand to her mouth in astonishment. Rouge just chuckled.

"You mean he got down on one knee and everything?" She asked.

The bat nodded before gazing out at the blue sky. The two of stood in the Blue Typhoon's green house, relaxing in the arm sunlight coming through the shattered glass ceiling. This had once been the bridge of the ship and Tails had converted it, allowing nature to creep in with vines and creepers. Cosmo then set to work planting seeds in the soil. Small sprouts of the beginning of a beautiful garden were already beginning to push their way up towards the light.

"I didn't actually expect him to do it." Rouge admitted. "I knew he wanted to but I doubt he would have the guts. I was going to wait for a leap year and then propose myself but then he surprised me with that ring." She held up her hand and the sunlight glinted of the small golden ring wrapped around her finger. It had a soft glow to it that had nothing to do with sunlight and at the top; a small cut diamond was fitted into a silver holding.

"Oh it's beautiful." Cosmo said, staring at it in wonder. "Does Knuckles wear his?"

Rouge hesitated.

"He has to have one specially made for him." She said and Cosmo looked up with a look of confusion on her face. "Have you seen the fingers underneath those gloves? He has cloven hands in there and a ring for a finger that large has to be specially made."

She shrugged.

"It should be ready in time for the wedding." Rouge smiled and then looked slyly up at Cosmo. "I was wondering if you might be interested in being a bride's maid."

Cosmo raised her hands to her face and gasped.

"Oh I'd love to."

"Wonderful. I'll be putting out the invitations to all of our friends as soon as…" She faltered.

"As soon as the funeral's over?" Cosmo offered.

"Yeah. "Rouge sighed. "I wouldn't do to start a celebration right after that would it?"

--

"This land is clean, fresh and young." Jack said with a note of approval in his voice as he looked out over the crisp white snow. "Our people will prosper here." The Miracle Planet, now in orbit around the Earth, had become the next home of the Felines and they wasted no time in settling themselves into the north of the planet. It was a small world but large enough to house them all with plenty of space left over for farms and settlements.

The artic circle of the small planetoid had expanded and now the north was far colder, meaning that winter lasted longer and the snow piled up high. But the felines loved their environment and set to work constructing a new castle on the top of a cliff. From here they could see over the planet's ocean and they were in sight of what they had dubbed the 'world tree', the massive plant that had grown to cover the ruins of the Nexus Gate. It was there the Seedrians had made their home and the blinking lights of their forest city could be seen in the distance.

Blaze stood upon the newly constructed battlements of this castle staring out to sea, her arms folded in front of herself.

Once again she was the queen of her people and felt completely happy here now. Her honour had been restored with the destruction of Loki and the foiling of Ragnarok and now she could finish her fathers work finally and led her people back to greatness.

That should make her happy.

It should.

But a part of her was tossing with indecision and she made it obvious in the way she stood with her arms crossed defensively in front of her.

Jack chuckled and crossed his own larege arms, a wide smirk crossing his face.

"I suppose it'll take an adjustment in theology of our people but I think it'll be fine." He remarked.

"What do you mean?" Blaze asked without looking back.

"Well, the next king will be half hedgehog and the thought of a hybrid king might take a little getting used to." He said it offhandedly as if it wasn't anything important, completely ignoring the powerful blush on Blaze's face. "I suppose I'd best get everyone prepared for it now, so it'll be less of a shock later on."

"What?" Blaze stammered. "I haven't the faintest idea of what you're talking about!!" She was blushing so hard that it was showing through her fur.

"With respect your majesty." Jack began with a sly expression. "But that's a lie and you know it." He walked over, whistling a merry tune to himself as he left her stamping her feet and muttering loudly.

Blaze blustered for a while but eventually she calmed down and had to conceit. Jack was right; there was no doubting it now. Her feelings for Silver was undeniable

Without realizing it, she had stood on the battlements where she could watch him. Silver had taken to wandering the stony breech at the base of the cliff and even now she could see him.

The relationship between the two of them was a strange one. In his future, she was his teacher and she had raised him practically. She felt odd in her mind yet from what she had seen in Silver's mind he did not think of their relationship as 'mother and son.' To him, she had always been a teacher and friend and his feelings verged on that tipping point towards attraction.

She swung herself over the battlements and with the precision of a trained acrobat, pirouetted down the side of the steep cliff until she reached more stable ground.

Silver was busy tossing rocks out to see, trying to make them bounce on the surface. He was cheating, using his telekinesis to make the rocks go faster and further.

"I'm trapped here." He stated without turning around. "There's nothing left to go back to in my own time."

"There must be." Blaze began. "I mean, if Iblis is gone then your future must be changed as well."

Silver just shook his head.

"No. If my future was altered, my memories of the future would be altered as well. My future is still bleak and empty. Iblis ceased to exist, that much is true but the devastation he caused remained. Even If I did go back, there's nothing to return to. At least that's how Prometheus told it."

Blaze paused.

"Isn't that a paradox?" She asked. Silver shrugged and then looked back.

"He also said something about parallel time lines but I didn't understand anything more than that. Besides, I think enough damage has been caused by time travel. Mephiles was testament to that."

He sighed.

"I'll just have to make a life for myself here."

This was a crucial moment and Blaze found a frog in her throat. Despite this she slipped up behind him and her arms looped around his waist. He looked back over his shoulder with an expression of astonishment on his face.

"A life here with me?" She asked him, her eyes brimming with emotion. Silver held her gaze for a long moment and she watched as the blush formed on his own face.

The idea of seducing would, under normal circumstances, be deplorable. Yet as she watched the wavering indecision in his eyes, she pressed on with her face slowly nearing his.

That was all it took to break his resistance.

He spun around and his lips were on her with all the pent up passion that was possible in a teenager.

Their kiss must have lasted at least five minutes as by the time they parted they were panting heavy.

Silver kept his gaze fixed on her.

"Alright." He managed with a gasp.

-

Drifting outside the Solar system, undetected by the earth or its allies, was a free floating space station. It was a large construction bay, patched together with a minimal automated workforce but for now it would have to do for Metal Sonic's purposes.

Within the bay, the hull of his new spaceship was being put together.

The Behemoth, the flagship of the Machine Federation; resurrected.

Given Earth's history with the Machine Federation Metal Sonic decided that it would be wise to remain undetected.

He could not explain to them that he no longer intended to overrun the planet. They would not listen.

So he would build here in secret, reconstructed his vessel and then he would take it out beyond the starts. Despite everything, Dark Oak's betrayal and Krish's machinations, he still believed that building a haven for sentient machines was a worthy goal.

"Now do you understand?" He asked, turning to face his newest 'recruits'. They included robots that he considered intelligent, mostly Eggman's elite guard, E1004: Theta, Egg Robo, Metal Knuckles and E102: Gamma. Surprisingly, one of their number had actually sought him out.

E123: Omega had actually come to Metal Sonic of his own volition.

"Can you not see the home for intelligent machines? A place where we are not tools of war for organics, a planet of our own?"

"No war?" Omega asked pointedly. "No more wars with organics."

Metal Sonic levelled a gaze at him, his red eyes glowing.

"No." He replied after a moment. "If they bring war to us then so be it but no, we will not strike the first blow."

"Acknowledged." Omega actually sounded satisfied. "But… query, why do you not attend the funeral of Sonic the Hedgehog? My processor's indicate he was an organic of special significance to you."

Metal Sonic wad, by now, advanced enough to have a sense of humour. He laughed and then he turned his back, his cape flowing behind him.

"There is no need." He remarked, laying both metal hands down on the rail as he watched the dozens of robots working on the skeleton of the ship.

The robots behind them exchanged confused glances.

"I was based on Sonic, designed to mirror him in every conceivable way. I have his data within me, every instinct, hope and desire of his are mine. In some ways I am more Sonic than myself."

Metal Sonic's eyes glowed brightly.

"Sonic is NOT dead." He declared. "He lives."

-

The next day was marked in history as the day when the entire world, as one, came together in mourning.

"Why the hell are you here?" Knuckles stammered with wide eyes when he arrived. Sitting at the front of the congregation before the massive stone statue that the people had erected of their hero, was Dr. Eggman. He was accompanied by his three robot servants, Bocon with a shiny new body and was receiving glares from others around them. "How can you, you of all people possibly have the nerve to turn up here?"

"Please Knuckles, let's be civil." Eggman said calmly. "I am here to pay homage to my greatest rival."

"Great rival?" The Echidna stammered. "You hated the hedgehog!"

"Oh he tested my patience more than once, but hate…. Actually, I don't ever think I REALLY hated him. I guess in some odd way I actually appreciated his constant meddling. It gave me something to work for."

Knuckles just stood there thinking up a suitable and damning reply but his fiancée just pulled him down further.

"Come on dear, you can play with your friend's later." Rouge told him quite sternly.

Void coughed once and he gained everyone's attention.

"We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of a great hedgehog and to remember the great deeds he did for us all." He started.

The funeral began from there and everyone on earth without exception watched. The sky over the memorial prepared in the centre of the ruins of Central City was grant and many promises were made for it to stand for all time.

The sky gathered over with dark clouds and at some point it started raining, the sky turning dark and thick pellets of water coursing down.

Amy ignored it, simply standing there letting it fall. She stood before the statue staring up at it mutely.

"He was…" Tails started but stopped when he realised he was using the past tense. He swallowed hard. "He was a hero. Full stop."

"We saved us all so many times…" Chris added without looking up. "He saved this planet over half a dozen times and then… then one last time he saved the entire universe."

"He was my best friend." Tails added. "For more years can I can remember. "

"I'll probably hate myself for admitting this…" Knuckles began without looking anyone in the eye. "But Sonic was better than me, not just in abilities or skill but he was also a better person. He had flaws, sure, but he never let them get the best of him like I did. No matter what the task was he always overcame it."

"His memory will live on." Chuck said quite firmly as if speaking to everyone. "The hedgehog who changed, saved and guarded the world."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

At all this except one.

Amy could not believe this…

No… every fibre of her being refused to accept this… this thing that lay before her.

Sonic, the only person she had ever offered her heart to, memorialised and left to pass silently into history and legend.

NO! This was not the Sonic she knew!

Sonic was a living being, flesh and blood, power and emotion… not some obscure memory left to fade in the collective mind set.

Her surroundings seem to whirl, sight, sound, all sensation becoming a sickening perversion she could not endure.

Feeling utterly overwhelmed she turned, spinning out of Chris' grasp and ran. She pushed past several mourners and away from the funeral and the sight of that statue that so sickened her.

"Amy wait!" Chris called after all, trying to follow but Amy was far faster than he was and she lost herself in the crowd.

"Let her go." Chuck stated, laying a hand sympathetically down on Chris' shoulder as he slowly shook his head. "Out of all of us, she would find this the hardest to accept."

Chris glanced up once at his grandfather, then out through the crowd hoping to catch a glimpse of Amy. It was hopeless. There was no way he could follow her through that thick thong.

"I can scarcely believe it myself." He sighed, turning back.

In his mind though the memories of had led up to this.

That night, so long ago now, when a strange talking blue hedgehog had dropped into his pool seemed like a milestone of destiny.

Then others like this strange creature appeared and the adventures began.

Fighting power crazed scientists, then watery demons from ancient days… even heading into outer space to a long abandoned space colony.

But the story didn't stop there.

Chris glanced over to Helen, who returned his gaze with a smile.

She remembered it as well.

The worlds had merged; that planet in another dimension Mobius and Earth and suddenly it opened up a pandora's box of trouble.

Metal Sonic, that strange mechanical hedgehog to aspirations of genocide and conquest to loomed like a coming storm but Sonic stepped up to the challenge once more.

After that the planet had been consumed by an all out war as alien races began making themselves known on the earth.

First were the Black Arms, followed by the deadly resurrection of the Destroyer.

Recent events had been far more emotionally draining when the Confederates had conquered the planet.

The long exodus through space back home had been draining for all of them and that had finally brought them to face his final outcome.

Sonic the Hedgehog had saved them one last time before leaving.

From no one, Chris would not be able to rely on Sonic to bail them out. Chris had matured a great deal since that time, long ago when Sonic dropped into his pool but still it had always been Sonic who was the hero.

Chris relented, with a sigh, that is was time for him to step out from underneath this hedgehog's shadow.

There was a tug at his arm. It was Helen.

She smiled at him and held him close. He did the same.

"Thank Sonic. But this is my life now."

-

Amy ran as far as she could as it only after a short while had passed before she was even aware of the fact that tears were streaming down her cheeks. Feeling constrained and frustrated she tore the black funeral skirt from around her and let it drop away as she ran. She did not stop running until she was out of sight of the buildings of the city.

Racing through the long grass of the plains she slowed down until she came to a rock that jutted out atop the grass.

This she climbed and once she reached the top, she drew her legs close to herself and sat there.

"God no…" She whispered. "Please… I've never asked for anything more, anything… please, don't let this be true."

Every ounce of her being rejected the reality around her. If this life no longer had Sonic in it, she truly believed that it was not worth living in.

It was in this moment of clarity that she realized, herself, just how much Sonic had meant to her.

He was the anchoring point for existence for her. In truth, Solaris could have succeeded in devouring reality and she would not have cared if Sonic had survived it.

Suddenly there was an undeniable feeling of presence around her and glancing up, she saw that hovering faintly around her were small particles of light.

They were not unlike fireflies and could easily be mistaken for them, had she not seen them before.

These small orbs of yellow were the trace elements of power that Solaris had left in his wake, the telltale sign of his meddling. Slowly they floated down and nestled in the long grass and following them down, Amy caught a glance of something lying there in the ground hidden by the undergrowth.

Reaching down, she took a hold of the fist sized item and held it up. As she'd half expected, it was a Chaos Emerald. The dark blue one, the same blue as… she forced herself not to make the comparison.

"Wishes into power." She muttered, remembering something she'd heard said about these mythical jewels of legend. The Chaos Emeralds took what was in the hearts of those who used them and made it reality.

There was only one thing she wished for.

The spark of hope for that wish was dim and growing dimmer…

But it had not gone out just yet.

She held the Emerald close to herself and closed her eyes.

"Please… please, let me go after him."

It was too much to hope for that he'd come to her, but she would give anything to join him wherever he was now.

A single tear ran down her cheek and dripped onto the Emerald.

"So be it." She heard a voice stated, paradoxically off in the distance and close at the same time.

This was a voice she recognised as that of Solaris.

Opening her eyes she saw that the jewel in her grasp was glowing, casting its blue light over her body. It pulsed like a heart beat for a moment before the light pointed itself forward, directing a path across the grass for her.

As her eyes followed this path, Amy felt a calm certainty in her soul… some how, she simply knew that she had to follow this path.

Keeping the Emerald close to herself, she took off as fast as her legs would carry her.

Far and fast she ran, following this path, running on and on.

She crossed mountains, hills and fields. She ran through towns, villages and cities and paid the people around her no attention at all.

Faster…FASTER, some deep instinct told her and straining against the natural limits of her muscles she ran; desperately trying to gain more speed.

She ran along beaches, rocky corals, along the top of cliffs and through the deepest of valleys… yet still she wasn't running fast enough.

Faster!

She had to go faster.

And so she kept on running… and then she reached a plat plain of land that seemed to go on for as far as the eye could see, she knew why.

On the edge of her awareness, she could see it… the blur just ahead of her. Whatever it was, it was moving faster than she was, at a speed so fast that it was hard for the naked eye to pick it up.

Could it… could actually be? Half of her simply wanted to cry out but the other half refused to let itself be taken in by what might actually be false hope.

What both sides agreed on however was that she had to go faster.

Smashing her body against her limits she ran, her muscles crying out in pain as she went faster than was biologically tolerable for her.

Amy didn't care, she could make out more details of the blur ahead of her now and its blue colour.

"Sonic!" She cried out despite herself. The blue blur didn't falter; it simply kept on running and was even pulling away from her.

Amy felt like her bones would snap if she ran any faster but she really didn't give a damn.

Grasping the Chaos Emerald, she forced herself, through sheer willpower to run faster.

The Emerald glowed again.

With an earth shattering boom, Amy Rose broke the sound barrier… surpassing her own limits.

There was a painful crunch as the muscles in her legs absorbed this power and adapted and without even realizing it, she found herself in a world of quiet. Travelling faster than the speed of sound she was beyond the mortal senses and everything around her was warped and silent.

But this escaped her scrutiny for her attention was focused directly on the object running ahead.

Her heart seemed to expand and contract like an exploding sun at the sight before her.

"SONIC!!" She cried out but the sound didn't make it, for in this environment, sound did not exist.

The blue hedgehog simply kept on running, racing forward just like he always has. He couldn't hear her.

He would run on like he always did.

She was not going to be left behind.

Not this time.

Never again.

Pouring on the speed, slowly Amy Rose began to close the cap between them. Inch by agonizing inch she drew closer.

What lay before her was no figment of her grief stricken imagination. This was real.

Reaching out, she groped forward and grabbed Sonic by the hand.

The blue hedgehog glanced back and his eyes widened in utter surprise, seeing Amy clasping onto him.

Stunned for the moment, he tripped over himself and still connected, the two of them was sent hurtling back into the world of sound; stumbling and rolling at high speed through thick bushes and grass.

Amy didn't mind. She simply clung to him and did not let go.

Then the two of them finally came to a stop and for a moment there was silence and Amy took this opportunity to pinch herself; to convince herself once and for all that she was not mistaken

Gently a hand was laid down on the top of her head.

Blinking away tears she looked up into the green eyes o he to whom she would never leave.

"You finally caught up with me." He told her with a short smile. Before she could say a world, Sonic laid a finger across her lips. "No… don't say anything. Just come with me."

There was clear puzzlement in her eyes.

"Out there, out into space." Sonic explained. "There are thousands of planets out there, millions, billions; so much potential for adventure that even boggles my mind." He looked up towards the sky. "Solaris made it clear… I have to keep this reality safe for him, but I'd much rather do it with you by my side Amy."

He got to his feet and even then Amy refused to let go.

"Amy… you want me to say it, then I'll say it… I love you."

"Then why didn't you come back for me?" She asked through the tears.

"Because you had to find me… this was your test. Solaris insisted." Sonic's tone as a bit drool and rolled his eyes a little. "You past the test, Amy… so come with me."

"But what…" Amy started.

"About the others?" Sonic finished for her. "Believe me… they'll survive.

I've been saving this world for a long time but it's their turn now, to defend it, to keep it and enjoy it. You know me Amy, I've got to keep moving on."

"But they all think you're dead." She carried on, whipping away the salt with the back of her hand. "Your friends, all the people we both made bounds with over the years think that you've past on."

Sonic chuckled and placed his hands on his hips.

"I know." He remarked with a wide grin. "I kept out of sight so that's exactly what they'd think." He blinked, meeting her sullen disapproving glare. "Amy, this is for their own good as much as mine. They have to learn how to stand on their own two feet, to live for themselves and not have to rely on me… I'm not doing this because I don't like being burdened by them, but because they don't need me anymore."

He put a hand on her shoulder.

"They've all grown up."

Amy lowered her head for a moment, before she smiled and hugged him close.

"Please, take me with you." She declared with all her heart.

Sonic smiled, reached up and snapped his fingers.

With the last grace of Solaris' power, the seven Chaos Emeralds were summoned to him. All of them appeared, one by one around them; their power almost drowning the two hedgehogs.

There was a bright flash of light and their fur changed, becoming a bright gold.

Hand in hand, Super Sonic and Super Amy flew up into the sky, past the clouds and the rain; through the heavens and up past Angel Island.

Breaking through the troposphere they past by the shattered remains of battle scared ships and the new Satellite, the Miracle Planet before the two of them, together again; headed off into space for another adventure.

--

It's OVER!! it's finally over!! The fiction series I wrote for years is finally OVER!! And it only took me... six months more than it should. ah well. I'm sorry, REALLY sorry that I didn;t update with the ending sooner but I was distracted by a LOT of things. Enjoy the ending to this and the entire series, starting with SOnic X heroes adaptation. It's a great series, even if I do say so myself.

A few people have asked me, what do I do now? Well, as for my writing, I go onto other stuff. Check my userpage for that. As for my Sonic stuff, I'm now the writer for the comic Sonic Unbound. If you want to see that then please do to my Devaintart page and follow the links. It's going well there and that's where my creative sonic spark is flowing right now.

This is the end.

Or is it. Maybe I should do ONE last movie ep. Possibly... who thinks I should? ;p


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